Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to increase the number of professional careers advisers in school and colleges.

Secondary schools and colleges have a legal duty to secure independent careers guidance for all 12 to 18 year olds and to those up to the age of 25 with an education, health and care plan.

Secondary schools and colleges should adopt the Government’s careers framework, the Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance, to develop and improve their careers programmes. The benchmarks describe eight aspects of high quality careers guidance based on international evidence.

Benchmark 8 focuses on personal guidance. It sets out that every pupil should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a careers adviser trained to an appropriate level. These interviews should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made. By setting this clear expectation in the Department’s statutory guidance for careers, the Department is increasing the demand from secondary schools and colleges for qualified careers advisers. The Department’s careers guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-guidance-provision-for-young-people-in-schools.

There continues to be an increase in the number of young people accessing personal guidance with a qualified careers adviser. In 2021/22, 85% of schools reported that most pupils (over 76%) had an interview with a qualified careers adviser by the end of Year 11. This is up from 80% the previous year. 66% of schools provided two or more interviews with a qualified careers adviser by the end of Year 13, up from 58% the previous year.

The Department is investing £18.5 million in 2022/23 to support the full rollout of Careers Hubs across England. 90% of secondary schools and colleges are now part of a Careers Hub, a tried and tested model for partnership and collaboration in careers education that is proven to accelerate progress against the Gatsby Benchmarks. In 2021/22, overall achievement of the personal guidance benchmark for schools and colleges in a Careers Hub was 75%, compared to 61% for those not in a Careers Hub.

To show how to deliver the personal guidance benchmark effectively and affordably, the Department funded the Careers & Enterprise Company between 2018 and 2021 to develop new cost effective models of personal guidance, resulting in a range of case studies. Practitioners accessed funded training within the project with 156 careers advisers receiving training. 97 gained Level 6 qualifications.

The Department’s careers statutory guidance recommends that schools and colleges consult the UK Register of Careers Professionals, held by the Career Development Institute (CDI), when bringing in a careers professional. As of May 2022, approximately 1,800 people were on the register. The CDI has a number of programmes in place to train and upskill careers advisers, including a focus on digital skills.