AEIAG0005

Written evidence submitted by Lantra

It is difficult to assess whether the current system of careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) is serving young people, as so many organisations are involved – there is no one place offering comprehensive careers information and much variability in provision. In most areas, there is a local The Careers and Enterprise Company presence, Jobcentre Plus Support for Schools programme, with a Local Enterprise Partnership often sitting alongside. In some areas the National Careers Service will also play an active role in offering advice to schools, as well as other national careers organisations, such as Aim Higher. There are also more localised charity and support organisations, as well as the support from Local Authorities, which can offer support to a targeted group or a universal careers guidance to all young people in an area. This landscape of provision could be overwhelming for schools, with little to distinguish between the offers or who to approach if they have a particular need. Having options on approaches can be useful when working with hard-to-reach communities, such as young Travellers, or to ensure the needs of SEND pupils are met, but at the moment it is not clear where any gaps are nor are these easily identified. There must be a concerted effort to minimise overlap and a bird’s eye view of provision to ensure co-ordination across all partners.

For vulnerable and disadvantaged young people who require targeted support, such as having a special educational need or disability, careers support needs to ensure that the individual’s aspirations are being considered and encouraged. Guidance and nurturing of their skills will help them to overcome barriers and find alternative routes to meet their aspirational goals. Jobcentre Plus school advisers look to support local schools and colleges who identify students at risk of leaving education without entering employment or further education or training – while this may help a young person access targeted support to join the workforce, there is a risk that the focus is on school-to-(any)-work transition as a positive outcome rather than the provision of information and support needed for them to fulfil their career ambitions, such as further education or training. A fundamental shift from a needs-based approach to a skills-based approach focusing on an individual’s strengths will allow services to become more universal and lifelong.

Currently there is a focus on careers information given at transition points rather than being embedded into the curriculum. To ensure learners are properly prepared for the world or work, the skills of the individual need to be developed all the way through their time at school. Skills development has to be embedded throughout the curriculum, with flagged opportunities for further development if a learner expresses an interest or aptitude. Otherwise, how will they know what their skills are?

While careers advice to young people should be school-based, the guidance itself shouldn’t be provided by the school – careers advisers provide a specific service to an individual at that point in time, unaffected by any previous interactions in a lesson setting. They should provide information on where the individual can develop or plug any gaps in their skill set e.g., college or short courses and access to funding. Schools would then be freed up to focus on advancing the young person’s skill set within the context of a more applied curriculum, and support them to take aptitude to the next level.

While skills such as self-management, problem solving and creativity are useful for young people to develop for their future career pathways, learners also need to develop from a young age an understanding that merit and responsibility are not just given to individuals. By making all positions of responsibility within a school something that requires an application, this will help to embed the skills they will later rely on when applying for a job. Teaching them that opportunities are something for which you must apply. Should the outcome not go their way, when this happens in the school environment, there are more opportunities for them to be supported towards compromise and resilience. Learners can then be given the opportunity to develop their skills in a different area, and learn how these could apply to the next stage of their career pathway.

There are risks around a National Skills Service being placed under the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) rather than the Department for Education (DfE), that would be lessened if the National Skills Service was a skills development or enhancement organisation. Moving responsibility for skills to sit independently from education would encourage skills to be seen as separate, rather than integral to education – this could endanger a young person’s opportunity to see how their skills could benefit their career, community or country.

The National Careers Service would benefit from being separate to skills, and have a more natural alignment with the DWP, but skills and education need to sit together, with the two being better integrated within the DfE. This would encourage not just parity of esteem between skills and education but would help to prevent skills being something that need to be developed when education is complete, and it is ‘time to get a job’ thereby helping to build better progression routes for those leaving school. This would also help to enforce the Baker Clause, should training in the workplace sit within the skills development/enhancement organisation. Technical education qualifications and apprenticeships would not been seen as an exit from the skills system into employment, but rather another pathway to skills development.

By the time learners reach the stage of getting support from Careers Advisors through the NCS system, they will have a good understanding of where their skills lie and careers support will provide information on the different available paths to get into opportunities.

There would be a natural overlap between the National Careers Service and a skills enhancement organisation e.g., National Skills Service with some internal structures being absorbed, however would lead to better alignment of services and support given to young people.

February 2022