Today, the Government has asked Ofsted to conduct a thematic review of careers guidance for young people in schools and further education and skills providers and to make recommendations to improve practice. Ofsted will report in Autumn 2023, and it will focus on:
· the quality of careers guidance in schools and further education and skills providers
· inform relevant stakeholders, including policymakers and providers, about the quality of careers education, information, advice and guidance
· identify strengths and weaknesses in careers provision in schools and further education and skills providers, and make recommendations to improve practice
· help to identify potential developments in the inspection training and guidance, and help share good practice and thinking across the inspectorate
Dev Clever PLC (DEV) welcomes this much-needed announcement and will look forward to playing an essential role in the review following our most recent verbal evidence given to the Education Select Committee in October 2022.
Careers guidance, embedded into the curriculum, is a critical component for every young person, both in School and Further Education, including apprenticeships. Unfortunately, our research shows that it is not taken as seriously as it should be. In a rapidly changing world, the development of core skills to support careers choices has never been more important.
We will be calling upon the work of Schools, FE and Apprenticeship providers to be measured and reported – a statutory requirement in much the same way as Health and Safety is in the workplace. Only then will our young people get the support they require in this vitally important area. Whilst education is much more than about careers per se, we must realise that our education system is and should be formative for the next 40 – 50 years of someone’s career.
We will also advocate that there should be a common IT platform for all institutions to not only respond to how young people consume knowledge – but to make careers advice and guidance exciting, motivating and the knowledge gained portable in the same way a record of achievement is.
Careers advice in the best institutions starts early in primary school, and there are some excellent examples of this. Yet, there is far too much inconsistency, poor careers advice, and in most cases – a lack of both quantum and quality.
This review should be transformative in supporting the young people of tomorrow to shape the future of UK PLC and the world. Ambitious but effective careers advice and support is critical to the prosperity and productivity of the country and to individuals and their families.
