GOOD CAREER GUIDANCE
Good career guidance is critical if young people are to raise their aspirations and capitalise on the opportunities available to them. Every young person needs high-quality career guidance to make informed decisions about their future.
In 2003 Gatsby commissioned Sir John Holman with setting out what career guidance in England should look like. After six international visits, analysis of good practice in English schools and a comprehensive review of current literature, John wrote The Good Career Guidance Report which identifies a set of eight benchmarks that schools can use as a framework for improving their careers provision.
These benchmarks have been well received by schools, government and a wide range of stakeholders.
2024 Gatsby – The Next 10 Years
Click on the above link to read about the updates, refinements and clarifications that have been made to definitions and criteria around the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks.
The eight Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance are:
- A stable careers programme
- Learning from career and labour market information
- Addressing the needs of each pupil
- Linking curriculum learning to careers
- Encounters with employers and employees
- Experiences of workplaces
- Encounters with further and higher education
- Personal guidance
Many organisations have embedded the benchmarks into their work including; the Careers and Enterprise Company, Teach First and the Sutton Trust.
Directions IAG aims to support schools/colleges in meeting these benchmarks.
Statutory Guidance: Careers Guidance and Access for Education and Training Providers (July 2021)
Technical and Further Education Act 2017
The Technical and Further Education Act 2017 takes forward the government’s programme of reform of vocational education. It provides for the expansion of the role of the Institute of Apprenticeships to oversee college based technical education as well as apprenticeships, becoming the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/
The Baker clause
The Baker clause was introduced in January 2018, and aims to raise awareness of technical education. It requires schools to publish a policy statement explaining how external further education providers can access the school and talk to their students about further education (FE).
The Baker Clause directly relates to Gatsby Benchmark 7
The Provider Access Legislation (PAL) aims to develop and strengthen the existing legislation (the Baker Clause) and came into effect in January 2023. It applies to all schools and colleges in England.
It specifies schools must provide at least six encounters with approved providers of apprenticeships and technical education for all their students:
- Two encounters for pupils during the ‘first key phase’ (year 8 or 9) that are mandatory for all pupils to attend
- Two encounters for pupils during the ‘second key phase’ (year 10 or 11) that are mandatory for all pupils to attend
- Two encounters for pupils during the ‘third key phase’ (year 12 or 13) that are mandatory for the school to put on but optional for pupils to attend
This legislation aims to help learners understand and apply for both apprenticeships and a broad range of technical education options including T Levels and Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs).