AEIAG0079

Written evidence submitted by Kingston University

Kingston University’s mission is to enhance students’ life chances, opportunities for its staff and the University’s impact in industry, policy, and the professions.

We are pleased to submit written evidence to the Committee’s inquiry into Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG), and would be happy to provide oral evidence on this important topic. 

How does the current CEIAG system serve young people, in particular those from disadvantaged or less represented backgrounds?

• Kingston University is passionate about enhancing students' life chances by helping them make the most of their learning opportunity and equipping them with the skills and knowledge needed in the 21st Century's demanding workplace with 95% of our graduates in work or further study six months after graduating, with 68% of graduates in graduate and/or professional level employment six months after graduating).

• We are ranked top 10 in a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), in partnership with the Sutton Trust and Department for Education, that ranks universities in terms of their contributions to social mobility. The report, Which University Degrees are best for Intergenerational Mobility, looks at LEO data and in particular students who are now turning 30. Kingston is ranked No 10 overall for contributions to social mobility, and best in pharmacology (which is number 5 nationally for courses overall).

• Kingston University’s ELEVATE Accelerator programme, which supports students of Black African and Black Caribbean descent to achieve their full potential has been named widening participation initiative of the year at the National Undergraduate Employability Awards and best equality, diversity, and inclusion programme at the Global Careers Summit.

• The University’s new Town House building – winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize for architecture – is a world-class building that confirms to our students, staff and our wider community, the importance of what we do.

• Our vision is rooted in our distinctive history, tracing back to the Science, Arts and Technical Institutes founded in the late 19th century which enabled us to respond to a world in transition.

• Today – like then – we need creatively skilled graduates who can transform our economy, society and environment to respond to the most challenging issues of our time.

• In June 2021 we launched our Future Skills League Table report, in partnership with YouGov Business. Based on interviews with major businesses including Deloitte, Mastercard, Unilever and Lidl, and a weighted sample of 2,000 UK employers, the survey identifies creative problem-solving skills – what we call ‘Skills for Innovation’ – as the top priority for UK businesses. 

• We value the wide range of backgrounds, identities, and experiences that our students bring and are committed to ensuring inclusivity and diversity in higher education.

• Nevertheless, an effective CEIAG system is vital for developing aspiration and levelling the playing field in terms of life chances.

• Many people will refer to a teacher, a lecturer, a family member, or family friend who had the greatest impact on their future career choices and trajectory. However, these positive interactions and social capital can only benefit those with ready access to it.

• Therefore, it is essential that an appropriately funded and equitable system of CEIAG exists including for those that need it most.

• We see first-hand the impacts the appropriate forms of support and guidance, targeted at the right time, can have a hugely positive impact on outcomes.

• Through insights developed via our outreach work with disadvantaged pupils in schools, we know that many of these learners lack the knowledge of progression options, routes into professions/employment and career options. This disparity is highlighted in the Sutton Trust’s recent report ‘Paving the Way.’

• In our own work with schools & colleges we have also seen first-hand the positive impact the report highlights of the Gatsby Benchmarks and Careers Leader roles in schools, many of whom engage with us directly to access CEIAG support for their pupils.

• Higher Education providers like Kingston, that recruit large numbers of disadvantaged students, often have to help these students ‘make up’ for significant gaps in their CEIAG from lack of support earlier in the education system.

• For example, Kingston University has some of the highest numbers of care-experienced students of any higher education provider (the highest in England according to provisional Student Loans Company data) that we support through our award-winning KU Cares programme.

• Due to the significant additional CEIAG support these students often need we fund and lead a range of interventions at university level including paid summer placements and work experience, prioritisation for CEIAG opportunities, postgraduate study support and “out-duction” meetings to prepare for life after university.

• The success of our KU Cares programme demonstrates that with appropriate investment excellent outcomes can be secured for these students. However, this programme relies on a variety of funding streams and institutional backing that is the exception not the norm for most students from care backgrounds.  

Should a National Skills Service be developed, and if so, would this be best placed in the Department for Education or the Department of Work and Pensions?

• In addition to delivering the skills the economy needs, careers guidance should be about aspiration and enabling every individual to recognise and showcase their abilities.

• At Kingston we are focusing on embedding employability directly into the curriculum, rather than this being a “bolt-on” activity.

• This approach ensures career development is woven through subject-specific learning, enabling students to build self-awareness, transferable skills and networks through their course.

• This enables students to understand and articulate the ways in which their course is preparing them for their future.

• We recommend that schools based CEIAG takes the same approach and the best placed department to achieve this would be the Department for Education.

Does the current system provide value for money to the taxpayer?

• The Careers Enterprise Company has recently launched its Careers Hubs which are designed to bring together schools and employers. These are still early stage but is a promising step. In London these benefit from additional funding from the Mayor of London and the European Social Fund.

• However, in our experience the CEC and National Careers Service have had traditionally low levels of engagement with universities and as organisations they need to engage with the full range of stakeholders across educational stages in order to be most effective.

• While we have had good engagement with the South London and Central London Careers Hubs, it will be important to maintain the longevity of these relationships and work especially when Careers Hub contracts expire and are renewed.

How careers and skills guidance could be better embedded in the curriculum across primary, secondary, further, higher and adult education, to ensure all learners are properly prepared for the world of work.

• At Kingston we have extensive experience working with other education providers, both in higher education but also with further education and schools. Through our outreach work we engage over 200 institutions each year across primary, secondary, further and adult education.

• As mentioned, we are focusing on embedding employability directly into the curriculum, rather than this being a “bolt-on” activity. While we are not alone in this, and other universities are making the same journey, this cannot be said to be the case across the education spectrum.

• As a university we capture institutional data on our students at enrolment and re-enrolment about their career readiness. We consider their career thinking and their engagement in employability enhancing activities prior to starting their degree.

• In 2021-22, 87% of new students starting at Kingston said that they had at least some ideas about their future career, however only 15% state they have had career guidance at school, 8% had completed work shadowing and 8% indicate that they have had university outreach teams visit their school.

• Based on this data, we are conscious that while our students are considering their career options, they are unlikely to have a strong understanding of how to advance their career development and the steps they can take to build the skills and attributes required to achieve prosperous lives and futures in today's labour market.

• To mitigate this, we have developed a personal development programme, Navigate, which runs early in the term in first year to support students develop self-awareness build self-motivation and develop self-efficacy which will be valuable throughout their degree and lives.

• After a highly successful pilot year, this programme will be embedded into the curriculum and become credit bearing from next academic year.

• We are currently developing our Future Skills Framework which could be embedded across different education levels. With pilot funding we could look to support schools to engage with employers.

• In order to achieve its ambitions for Lifelong Learning the government would need to ensure this is supported with effective information and guidance for all learners at each stage of their career and education journeys.

• As a member of University Alliance, Kingston delivers mostly courses which are professional and vocational with the involvement of Professional, Statutory, and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs). Our experience shows that students in Years 9 – 11, particularly those from more disadvantaged backgrounds, do not have clear knowledge of the pathways into the professions.

• Investment is needed to work with these groups to ensure they are aware of the pathways that are available to them and what these entail.

• It is therefore welcome that the new Office for Students Access & Participation direction shows greater value for work with learners earlier in their education, however it will be crucial that OfS guidance and targets adequately recognise this work so that universities are incentivised so as not to focus their efforts solely on post-16 learners.

How the Baker Clause could be more effectively enforced

• The Baker Clause stipulates that schools must allow colleges and other training providers access to students between Years 8 and 13 to discuss the alternative non-academic routes available to them.

• This is an important part of what should be an integrated model that gives students a balanced view of the education pathways available to them.

• However, the scale and pace of changes taking place at Level 3 risks adding to rather than lessening confusion for students for whom a BTEC may be a desired choice. Schools also need to be empowered with the resource and knowledge to give informed guidance to students in addition to giving access to colleges.

• It is important that the Baker Clause is effectively enforced otherwise there is a risk that students will enter the next phase of education without the right support and guidance about the options available to them.

How the Government can ensure more young people have access to a professional and independent careers advisor and increase the take-up of the Lifetime Skills initiative.

• As referenced previously, in order to achieve its ambitions for Lifelong Learning the government would need to ensure this is supported with effective information and guidance for all learners at each stage of their career and education journeys.

• We would support the Sutton Trust ‘Paving the Way’ report’s recommendation that all schools should have access to a professional (and independent) careers adviser, qualified to at least Level 6.

Whether the proposals for CEIAG in the Government’s Skills for Jobs White Paper will effectively address current challenges in the CEIAG system.

• The Skills for Jobs White Paper falls short on the ambition required to deliver the government’s lifelong learning vision, concentrating mainly on provision in secondary and further education. 

• It outlines a much-needed overhaul of existing information and updating of the National Careers Service website to act as a one-stop-shop for careers information for young people and adults. While such information sources are useful to those that are able to navigate them what is missing is individualised careers support delivered by professional careers advisers with the appropriate training and skills. 

• As it stands, the white paper addresses “careers education” and “information and guidance” as two separate entities, when careers learning should be embedded in the curriculum.

• Universities like Kingston have a wealth of knowledge and expertise in delivering successful careers programmes, but the white paper fails to identify the role that universities play in this important area.

Whether greater investment to create a robust system of CEIAG is needed, and how could this be targeted, to create a stronger CEIAG.

• While there is a broad consensus that CEIAG is underfunded in the school system, funding should be targeted at creating opportunities for collaboration between different levels of the education system, including universities. This will help to foster a system of CEIAG which can be embedded across all levels and cater for individual pathways and build on existing good practice for employer engagement.

• Furthermore, we would support the Sutton Trust ‘Paving the Way’ report’s recommendation for a ‘minimum underlying structure’ for careers provision in all schools, with additional funding and additional provision above this baseline targeted at schools which serve particularly high levels of disadvantaged students whose needs are often greater.

March 2022