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Chiarodia made his professional debut on 10 December 2021, coming on as a late substitute in Werder Bremen's 3–2 away win against Jahn Regensburg in the 2. Bundesliga . [ 7 ] [ 8 ] At 16 years and 188 days, he was the youngest first-team player in the club's history; he also became the second youngest player to feature in the German second tier, behind only Efe-Kaan Sihlaroglu .
Feb 26, 2020 · One father's advice to his children on the future of work. There has been a change in career choices since 2000, but not that much. While there was an increase in girls citing “doctor” (15.6%), up from 11% in 2000, they still rated “teacher” with a high 9.4% (11.1% in 2000). “Business manager” moved up in girls’ answers from 3% to 5%.
Jul 6, 2018 · Independent career advisers – in and out of school – can help students in different ways; through questionnaires and tests, they can help students better understand their interests and preferences. But more important, they can also inform students about jobs that are unfamiliar to them, and the paths into them.
The Career Development Institute (CDI) is committed to making sure that everyone receives the highest quality career guidance. That support begins in schools and colleges, ensuring young people are equipped to take successful next steps in education, training or employment. We first produced this guide to help school and
- Executive summary
- Introduction and background
- Methods
- Schools findings
- FE and skills providers findings
- Annex
High-quality careers guidance is essential to enable all children and young people to understand the range of options available to them and realise their potential.[footnote 1] There have been substantial changes to the careers landscape in England over the past decade, including the introduction of the Gatsby benchmarks and Baker clause. In 2022, the Department for Education (DfE) asked Ofsted to review careers provision in schools and further education and skills (FE and skills) providers. During the spring term 2023, we carried out research visits to 30 schools and 14 FE and skills providers. We also reviewed a sample of inspection evidence and held focus groups with inspectors, employers and independent learning providers (ILPs).
In this review, we saw many examples of good practice. Most of the schools and FE and skills providers demonstrated commitment to providing effective careers guidance to their pupils and learners.
All pupils and learners should receive quality careers guidance that raises their aspirations and leads them to make choices that will help them realise their potential. We found that this could be achieved if leaders think strategically about careers and support employer engagement that is authentic, contextualised and personalised. For schools and FE and skills providers that were engaged with career hubs, these played an important role in ensuring effective employer engagement and contributed more widely to career programmes.
Senior leaders, the careers leader and subject teachers worked collaboratively. They received appropriate input from specialist, qualified careers advisers, tailored to the local needs of schools and providers. This helped the pupils and learners receive all necessary information, advice and guidance on careers at the right time.
Many of the schools we visited ensured that pupils received unbiased guidance that was balanced between academic and technical options, but this was not the case in all schools. In general, a lack of unbiased guidance was usually not about schools deliberately choosing to direct pupils to particular courses that might benefit the school, but due to insufficient strategic planning and attention to the needs of individual pupils. Careers guidance was often underdeveloped in key stage 3, particularly for Year 7. It was not always as clear what the thinking was behind the careers programme for this age group.
Overall, the negative impact of the pandemic on careers guidance has begun to dissipate. However, changes in working practices, such as increased home working, are affecting the arrangement of work experience.
Effective careers guidance can make a positive difference to young people’s employment outcomes. There is an international consensus that well-targeted careers guidance can help all young people achieve their potential.[footnote 9] There are particular benefits for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, who may not have access to the same levels of social capital as other pupils.[footnote 10]
Internationally, young people are facing a more dynamic and turbulent labour market, and more complex decisions about their futures. Unemployment for 15- to 24-year-olds is much higher than for those 25 and over. This suggests that young people are not as attractive in the employment market.[footnote 11] Research also shows that children and young people who think about and experience future careers while in school are less likely to be unemployed.[footnote 12] These factors bolster the case for ensuring that education providers offer effective careers guidance that can help children and young people understand the options open to them and make decisions that will allow them to maximise their potential.[footnote 13]
The education system also has a role in making sure that children and young people have the skills needed for the careers of the future. Although considering future skills needs was outside of the scope of this report, effective careers guidance will help children and young people make informed decisions about their futures.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) considers careers guidance as covering:
…services and activities intended to assist individuals, of any age and at any point throughout their lives, to make educational, training and occupational choices and to manage their careers[footnote 14]
Employers can be involved in careers guidance in many ways. Gatsby benchmark 5 states that pupils and learners should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about the world of work.[footnote 15] This can be through a range of activities such as visiting speakers, careers fairs and mentoring. Gatsby benchmark 6 concerns experiences of the workplace. These are commonly a part of careers guidance in secondary education and even more so in FE and skills, where they are a fundamental part of many programmes of study. These can include work visits, shadowing, or work experience.[footnote 16] Work experience placements are also distinct from industry placements, which are a mandatory part of T levels.
The scope of the review was to consider careers guidance for 11- to 19-year-olds in schools and FE and skills providers (and for students up to age 25 with a current education, health and care plan).
Our review focused on:
•whether school leaders saw careers guidance as a priority
•how leaders made sure their careers provision was of high quality
•the extent to which schools and FE and skills providers engaged with employers, careers networks, other providers and parents as part of their careers guidance
•whether careers provision contributed to local, regional and national opportunities and skills needs
Leadership of careers
In most schools, the leadership team saw careers guidance as a strategic priority. In those schools where inspectors identified high-quality careers guidance, leaders were taking a ‘whole-school’ approach, and there was significant buy-in from leaders and staff. Careers was seen as everyone’s responsibility. There was a clear line of communication between staff members, careers specialists and school leaders. There was also an emphasis placed on building staff’s knowledge and experience. In one school, the headteacher had arranged for staff to undertake placements in another area of work. This meant that staff acquired knowledge of wider sectors, which they could then pass on to pupils. In the most effective approaches to careers guidance, the school’s strategy incorporated a range of provision, which was well planned and sequenced across all year groups. Pupils, including those with SEND, were well supported by a dedicated team of staff. Leaders were committed to improving the school’s careers guidance offer. They regularly reviewed their careers programme, and governors were involved in this process. However, around a quarter of schools were demonstrating less effective practice. In these schools, the range of provision could be limited, the aims for each year group were unclear and staff delivering careers guidance were not appropriately trained or were working in an isolated way. Careers guidance was not a structured activity. This was reflected in our inspection evidence review, which showed that time and resources were significant barriers for schools in delivering a high-quality careers programme. Similarly, on the research visits, schools said that they could not always dedicate as much time as they would like to careers guidance. A third of schools referenced poor staffing levels and high staff turnover, and this led to gaps in the breadth of what schools were able to deliver. This often affected key stage 3 pupils, who might receive less careers guidance as a result. A quarter of schools noted funding as another barrier. One school, for example, said that this meant they were unable to offer work experience placements to pupils in Years 10 and 11. Another said that they relied on charitable funding as a means of trying to ‘plug the gap’. In some schools, there was limited monitoring and evaluation of programmes. Almost all schools saw incorporating feedback from pupils and parents into the careers strategy as a challenge. For instance, just under a third were collecting pupils’ feedback using surveys, forums and pupil discussions. Only 4 of the schools were getting parental feedback about their careers programme. Almost all schools were using the Gatsby benchmarks to structure and review their careers programme. School leaders generally viewed the benchmarks positively and found them to be a useful framework for what good practice looks like. However, a few schools that were already meeting all the benchmarks questioned how useful the benchmarks were in helping them to make the next step to ‘excellent practice’. They expressed concern that the benchmarks are a ‘tick-box’ exercise, rather than informing high-quality practice. Several schools cited benchmark 3 as the most difficult to achieve. Benchmark 3 includes systematically recording the advice given to each pupil, and maintaining accurate data on their education, training or employment destinations. Schools found it challenging to maintain accurate destinations data. This was often because of the time it took to collect this data. Leaders said tracking destinations for 3 years could be ‘almost impossible’, and they were not able to efficiently collect the data they needed. Tracking the careers guidance given to each pupil varied across schools. The best intentions were not always matched to reality. This was also reflected in our inspection evidence review. Leaders told us that maintaining records can help staff know where each pupil was in terms of their career planning. Guidance could then be tailored accordingly. Most leaders had a greater focus on tracking pupils with SEND and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. However, some leaders told us tracking individual careers guidance was challenging and time-consuming and needed more help with this. Around a third of schools we visited were using the tool Compass+ for tracking and evaluating their careers provision.[footnote 79] These schools considered it to be useful when integrated with current management information systems. Case study: how one secondary school was using destination data and tracking pupil engagement This is a secondary school in one of the most deprived areas. Staff found Compass+ useful for reporting back to governors and saw it as an effective auditing tool that helped them to focus on how careers guidance needed to develop. The school was using Compass +to carry out evaluations 3 times a year. The school found it straightforward to access and analyse the information in Compass+. This enabled staff to effectively track pupils’ engagement with careers opportunities, such as work placements, and analyse data by gender, ethnicity and other relevant attributes. Although the school was keen to track destinations data, staff noted that this was hampered in practice by data-sharing restrictions within the local authority. There is no county-wide data-sharing agreement. The school had to, instead, use more informal networks, such as contacting pupils by email or questioning siblings who still attended the same school. The former resulted in very few responses from each cohort and was time consuming for staff. The school would like to see more data-sharing and suggested a central database where it could access former pupils, and track those who had gone on to college and those who had dropped out. Staff believed this would allow them to carry out systematic tracking in a more time efficient way and effectively analyse the impact of their careers guidance programme. Using labour market information (LMI) LMI includes current trends in employment sectors and recruitment patterns. In general, we found how schools ensured pupils and parents had access to LMI to be variable. Most often, schools included local LMI during careers lessons or may have held a local careers week where teachers in all subjects focused on jobs in their local community and the pathways to enter these careers. Careers leaders said links to hubs and local enterprise partnerships were helpful for accessing local and national LMI. In general, we saw very little evidence of parents being encouraged to access and use LMI to support their child or young person, even though this is needed to meet part of the Gatsby benchmarks. We did not see evidence that schools were excessively focusing on the local labour market. A few schools in more deprived areas were aware of the limitations of this, and their strategy included making pupils aware of national opportunities to widen their options. This was similar for schools in more rural areas.
Impartial guidance and equal prominence for technical and academic pathways
The provider access legislation was strengthened in January 2023. A few schools were still in the early stages of meeting the new requirements, particularly at key stage 3. Leaders in all schools were aware of their responsibilities around this. Pupils had encounters with providers of apprenticeships and technical education, but it was not always clear whether this met the criteria for 6 ‘meaningful encounters’ spread deliberately across specific key phases. However, all schools we visited were mindful of working towards the new legislation. There is existing guidance for what constitutes a meaningful encounter, but a few schools were still unclear or wanted more clarification about what would meet this requirement.[footnote 80] In approximately half of the schools we visited, careers guidance did not seem biased towards a particular route or provider. In the remaining schools, it was unclear whether this was the case, or else there was a mixed picture of how well this aspect of careers guidance was working. When it was working well, it was often part of leaders’ deliberate strategy to make sure pupils understood all the options available to them. In these schools, leaders had ensured that equal importance was assigned to all possible career pathways. Relevant staff had useful training that developed their knowledge of the different pathways. Pupils had a one-to-one interview with a suitably trained impartial careers adviser and were given information from a range of sources, such as events, work experience, visits and individual guidance. Leaders had also analysed destinations data to identify less popular career paths and see whether guidance about them was suitable. Pupils in schools where things were going well were positive about the information they had received. They told us that all pathways were explained to them. One pupil said: I am staying at this school for sixth form, but we get lots of information about lots of other post-16 options so we get to know about T levels [and] apprenticeships. However, a few schools gave information that was biased towards their own sixth forms. For instance, one school was reluctant to allow other providers in because they were direct competitors. This was reflected in our inspection evidence review where a few schools were not giving pupils enough information about options beyond continuing in their own sixth forms. In the remaining schools we visited, there was a lack of a deliberate strategy. Leaders could not talk in detail about how pupils were made aware of technical options. For instance, a few leaders said this would happen naturally ‘through the wider curriculum’, without giving any specific details of when this was planned to happen. Case study: how one secondary school with a sixth form was ensuring that pupils received information on a range of pathways This is a secondary school based in a highly deprived area. Leaders made sure there was a careers policy, provider access statement and careers strategy on the school’s website. The policy covered how the school met the updated statutory guidance and evaluated its provision against the Gatsby benchmarks. The careers strategy detailed the different opportunities mapped across the school’s curriculum and personal development programme. Leaders described a strategic change in their approach over the last 2 years to include more providers of T levels and apprenticeships in events such as assemblies and careers fairs. Pupils start meeting a range of employers from Year 7 and leaders saw this as important to ‘widen horizons’. Pupils also meet with representatives from a FE college once a year. Leaders valued the support from their enterprise adviser, who helped forge links with employers and training providers in the local area. The school’s sixth form was promoted alongside a range of other post-16 options. Pupils move on to a range of post-16 opportunities, which leaders see as evidence that the school’s advice is unbiased. The school has an independent careers adviser who comes in once a week to meet with pupils in Years 11 and 13. Pupils and learners said this helped them explore their post-16 and post-18 options, and they valued the personalised advice they received. All schools promoted higher education as a possible pathway to pupils. In some cases, this included ensuring that all pupils considered higher education as an option, for example, those from first-time university families. One school had developed a mentoring scheme for pupils with SEND, where they were mentored by local university undergraduates with additional needs so they could see that university was a potential pathway. Schools with sixth forms ensured their careers programme gave practical help and guidance to those who wanted to progress into higher education, such as helping pupils with UCAS applications. Our inspection evidence review showed gaps around apprenticeships and T levels (although the latter are relatively new, having only been introduced in September 2020), and a few schools not promoting these effectively. Some teachers did not have enough knowledge of what T levels offer as an alternative qualification route. Additionally, some employers and ILPs we spoke to said that technical pathways were not promoted well enough in school. Pupils’ awareness and understanding of technical and vocational pathways varied in the schools we visited. In approximately half of schools, pupils either said they did not understand technical pathways well enough, or the inspector noted that they were unable to demonstrate knowledge of them. In a small number of schools, pupils said more emphasis was placed on A levels than on technical pathways. Meeting with a careers adviser An appropriately qualified careers adviser was vital to give impartial and unbiased guidance to pupils. The statutory guidance states that every pupil should have opportunities for individual guidance interviews with an adviser qualified to level 6.[footnote 81] Many pupils identified meeting with a careers adviser as crucial to their decision-making about their next steps. For instance: Most useful thing from careers adviser is that I got a different perspective I wouldn’t have thought about. I already knew what colleges I wanted to go to, so the meeting was mostly for university choices and the adviser showed me the variety at universities. Just over two thirds of schools had access to an internal or external careers adviser who had completed, or was completing, level 6 training. Three further schools had a careers lead qualified to level 6 who was responsible for guidance interviews. In a few schools, pupils said they had not received one-to-one interviews with a careers adviser at all. There was a similar picture in our inspection evidence review. Not meeting an adviser meant that even though pupils were learning about careers elsewhere in the curriculum, they were less likely to meaningfully link what they had learned to their future careers and choices. A small number of schools found it difficult to access specialist careers guidance because they could not source enough advisers for all pupils needing advice. This meant that schools had to prioritise pupils for guidance interviews. Typically, this was pupils in Year 11. Around a third of schools prioritised pupils they identified as being vulnerable or those at risk of becoming NEET when they left school. In some schools, pupils in Years 9 and 10 also met with an adviser. This enabled them to talk about their key stage 4 options, which pupils said they found beneficial. However, a couple of schools were not strategically prioritising their careers advisers’ time. For instance, they were neglecting to identify those pupils who would benefit most from early or regular advice. This meant that some of those most in need were missing out or receiving information too late to help inform their choices. Key stage 4 options In some schools, the key stage 4 options programmes created a barrier to some pupils’ progression to certain pathways.[footnote 82] When pupils’ key stage 4 subject choices were limited, this risked limiting their future progression into some areas of study and training. Some pupils said they had received useful support around their options, and we noted this as effective practice. In these instances, schools had linked options and qualifications to future careers early in key stage 3 and built options into the PSHE curriculum or personal development programme and subject lessons. Pupils were also able to meet with a careers adviser or senior member of staff one-to-one to discuss options in Year 9. Many pupils said they could feel rushed into the decisions they were making and so building in enough time for the options process is important. We also identified good practice in those schools that engaged parents in the options process. For example, schools invited parents to an options information evening, so they could better understand the options available and how these linked to future pathways and careers.
Involving employers, FE and skills providers, and higher education and training providers in careers
All schools visited were involving employers, colleges, and training and higher education providers in their careers programme. Typically, this was through careers fairs, assemblies, work experience and visits to workplaces or universities. Links with employers were a feature of good practice in around half the schools we visited. There was a similar picture in our inspection evidence review. UTCs demonstrated particularly strong links with their alumni, who returned to give talks to current pupils about different career pathways. Pupils in the schools we visited valued their interactions with employers, FE and skills providers and universities, and said they influenced their career decisions. Whole-year or cross-school events such as careers fairs, talks and employer assemblies were common in all schools across the review. Staff and pupils broadly found them useful. However, some pupils did not find them as beneficial as leaders thought, and some employers questioned the impact of these activities when carried out as standalone events. A CEO of a creative development agency highlighted: You can see some schools getting a strategic agenda and linking it to operations and curriculum, but in others you get wheeled into a career event at lunchtimes where students just get piled in and piled out again – it’s like a mass transit event: I don’t think anyone comes out any the wiser. In schools that used these activities more effectively, careers events were closely linked to the school’s curriculum and were part of a well-planned programme for careers guidance. Pupils were taught the necessary knowledge to prepare them for the event, and this was built on in subsequent lessons. In these schools, pupils told us that careers fairs were followed up with tutors, or that they had time in advance to find out about the employers and think about questions they might want to ask. One pupil said, ‘We talk about careers in tutor time and reflect back on events that have happened.’ In another school, pupils had a booklet to complete during the careers fair, which they used in future careers lessons. Almost all of the schools visited were part of a careers hub. In general, schools that engaged with careers hubs found it a useful way to build professional networks and drive improvements against the Gatsby benchmarks. Seven schools said their enterprise advisers or coordinators were particularly helpful in doing this. Other schools reported less positively. For instance, one school said it received minimal input as its enterprise adviser was supporting so many other schools. Another school that was part of a hub described support stopping because of the pandemic. A few schools were not fully aware of careers hubs and felt communication about the hubs could be poor. There was also little mention of hubs in the evidence bases for the sample of inspections. The 4 schools we visited that were not in a hub were part of other networks that served a similar function. One school had set up a careers network with other local schools to share resources and information. Another school was part of a careers group in its multi-academy trust. Experiences of the workplace In general, the pupils we spoke to valued quality experiences of the workplace. They said these were one of the most useful things to help them make career decisions. However, almost all schools told us the pandemic had affected their work with employers and other providers. Many leaders now saw it as a priority to rebuild connections, increase opportunities for pupils to experience the workplace and return work experience placements to pre-pandemic levels. Generally, this was working well and the number of pupils experiencing the workplace was increasing. However, some schools told us that employers had stopped offering work placements or were reluctant to have pupils on site. Schools had kept some of the practices they developed during the pandemic to address the reduced number of work experience opportunities. For instance, one school had developed a pop-up salon and restaurant in school for work placements. Pupils were positive about this and said it helped them think about their career aspirations and next steps. Other schools had continued with virtual work experience, but there was a mixed picture from pupils on how valuable this was. For instance, one Year 11 pupil said: The face-to-face interactions are the best, but this was lost a lot because of COVID. Schools mostly offered work experience placements in Year 10, and in Year 12 if the school had a sixth form. Three schools were not offering work experience placements at all, mainly because they had not restarted these following the pandemic. It was unclear whether pupils were gaining experience of the workplace through other means, such as visits or shadowing. A further 3 schools had stopped offering work experience placements in Year 10 and had shifted their focus to Year 12. One school cited limited funding as the reason, and leaders felt they needed to prioritise Year 12. In another school, leaders told us it was because pupils are now in education until Year 13, and they felt it was more beneficial to have work experience in Year 12.
In FE and skills providers, careers guidance can be part of a separate careers programme and/or through individual appointments with careers advisers. It is also built into the curriculum in many courses, which are often designed with employability in mind. Apprentices may receive careers advice at work and might also receive broader careers guidan...
Limitations
It was sometimes challenging to recruit participants for this review. In many cases, this was because of the additional workload of a research visit and challenges with arranging visits around potential industrial action. The sample of FE and skills providers we visited was most affected, and we were therefore only able to visit good or outstanding FE and skills providers. However, we did include requires improvement and inadequate FE and skills providers in our inspection evidence review. We did not observe any teaching or careers guidance sessions during the visits. This was primarily because we felt our research questions could be answered through interviewing staff and pupils or learners, and triangulating what we were told between participant groups. We also used other sources of data, such as a sample of inspection evidence, to increase the validity of what we found. We wanted to gather enough data to answer our research questions in a way that minimised the impact of the research on staff and reduced any potential harm to participants, in line with our research ethics policy.[footnote 89] However, arguably observing teaching and/or careers guidance sessions during the visits would have given us a more rounded picture of the overall quality of careers guidance in the school or FE and skills provider. Six school visits and 2 FE and skills visits were led by a senior member of the research team rather than an HMI. This was because it was not always possible to do a research visit when both the HMI lead and school or provider were available. We carefully cross-checked any insights used in the report that were made solely by researchers with HMIs involved in the project to make sure they were accurate. Across our overall sample of visits and inspection evidence, we found considerable repetition of the same themes, especially for our key findings and areas of recommendations. We can therefore be confident that a level of saturation was reached.
Detailed methods
Research questions How well do leaders: fulfil their statutory duties to provide independent careers guidance? [footnote 90] ensure that careers education is of high quality? To what extent do schools and FE and skills providers: engage with stakeholders (such as employers, careers networks and other providers)? ensure that careers education contributes to local, regional and national opportunities and skills needs? How does the curriculum help learners make informed choices about their future education, employment and training? Secondary research questions Leadership: Is careers guidance seen as a purposeful activity across the whole school or FE and skills provider, integrating leadership, whole-curriculum planning, employers and parents? Does the careers leader have the explicit and visible backing of school leaders? Engagement: Is the school or FE and skills provider an active member of local careers networks such as the local careers hub and enterprise adviser networks, where available? To what extent are schools and FE and skills providers involving parents and carers in the careers guidance process? Provision and the curriculum: Are schools giving equal prominence to both technical and academic routes when informing young people and their parents about future options? How do learners perceive the quality of the careers guidance/provision they receive? Literature review In autumn 2022, we carried out a narrative review of the national and international academic, policy and grey literature, focusing on relevant reviews and reports on careers guidance in England.[footnote 91] We searched and filtered for relevant literature based on our stated aims for the project.[footnote 92] We created a list of literature items and then populated a literature matrix for each item, including relevant research aim, methods, key findings and significance. We then used this matrix as the basis for developing a long-form literature analysis, which we used to develop our detailed research questions and research design. Inspector focus groups During October 2022, we held 4 focus groups with 16 schools and FE and skills HMI and Senior His Majesty’s Inspectors (SHMI). The purpose of the focus groups was to use inspectors’ expertise to inform the methodology for our research visits, and to identify themes to explore further on the research visits. We held the focus groups virtually and did not audio record them, but a researcher took notes. We analysed the data thematically and drew themes from it inductively. We analysed the schools and FE and skills notes separately in Microsoft Word. We produced a summary of the main themes for each remit, which included the number of times each theme was mentioned across the focus groups. Analysis of inspection evidence We did this analysis in 2 phases. For the first phase, we looked at 5 schools and 5 FE and skills providers across 6 Ofsted regions.[footnote 93] We only looked at outstanding and inadequate settings to get an understanding of strong practice and challenges. A researcher analysed the data thematically in MaxQDA. We used this phase to generate an initial coding framework and to identify initial findings. We then analysed a sample of schools and FE and skills providers inspected since the EIF. We included 26 schools, 2 UTCs and 8 FE and skills providers in this part of the analysis. Table 1: Schools in both phases of our inspection evidence analysis, including contextual data Note: Percentages are rounded so may not total 100. (IDACI) income deprivation affecting children index [x] = not available Table 2: FE and skills providers in both phases our inspection evidence analysis, including contextual data Note: Percentages are rounded so may not total 100. [x] = not available We used the draft coding frameworks from the first phase to code the data in the second phase. We adapted the definitions and wording of existing codes in response to new data. We also added new codes if the data presented a new idea that was not in the coding framework. Two researchers coded the same inspection evidence data and met to discuss the coding framework and resolve any areas of disagreement. They kept a record of the meeting. We reviewed code frequencies and retrieved coded segments in MaxQDA. A researcher summarised the main themes. We then analysed these summaries alongside the data from the research visits to triangulate findings. Research visits During the spring term 2023, we carried out research visits to schools, sixth-form colleges, general further education colleges and ILPs. We constructed a varied but balanced sample of schools and FE and skills providers to invite to participate. This included the following criteria: Ofsted region rural/ urban locations latest overall effectiveness judgement (excluding schools or FE and skills providers that were judged as inadequate) level of deprivation in the school’s or FE and skills provider’s local authority using the income deprivation affecting children index (IDACI) The exact balance of the schools and FE and skills providers we visited was affected by recruitment challenges, and we acknowledge this is a limitation of the study. Table 3: Schools visited, including contextual data Note: Percentages are rounded so may not total 100. [x] = not available Table 4: FE and skills providers visited, including contextual data Note: Percentages are rounded so may not total 100. Research visits were led either by an experienced member of the research team or a single HMI who had received research training. A senior researcher led 6 school visits and 2 FE and skills visits. The remainder of the visits were led by an HMI. A researcher shadowed an HMI for 5 school visits and 2 FE and skills visits. Research visits took place over 1 day for schools and over 1 or 2 days for FE and skills providers, depending on the size of the provider and practical arrangements. We gave schools and FE and skills providers the flexibility to develop a timetable for the visit that minimised burden on staff, while ensuring that we spoke to all participant groups wherever possible as this was important for triangulation. For 2-day visits to general further education colleges, we spoke to additional specialist staff, subject lead staff and learners (up to a maximum of 5 learner focus groups). This was to capture the range of these larger settings. Table 5: An example timetable for schools [z] = not applicable We spoke to similar groups of participants in FE and skills providers, excluding the SENCo. During the visits, we also interviewed 4 employers that worked with the FE and skills providers we visited. We wanted to speak to pupils and learners who reflected the diversity of the setting we were visiting. In total, we spoke to 330 pupils in schools and 246 learners in FE and skills providers. Table 6: The total pupils we spoke to in schools broken down by year group Table 7: The total learners we spoke to in FE and skills providers broken down by age Note: Total numbers are approximate as we collected a mixture of age and year group data. 53 learners are not included in the table as we were not able to collect data on their age or year group. Participating in the research was voluntary for all participants. We asked schools and FE and skills providers to distribute an information sheet to all participants and parents before the visit. We also sought verbal consent at the start of each research activity. Parents were given the opportunity to opt their young person out of the research. We did not speak to pupils or learners whose parents had opted them out. For each activity, we developed an interview guide. These were used as a framework to guide the conversation, and researchers or HMI had the flexibility to ask additional questions and follow new lines of enquiry. We used findings from our literature review and HMI focus groups to inform the interview guides. We asked about: the overall approach to careers the approach to evaluating and monitoring careers how schools or FE and skills providers engaged with employers, careers networks, other providers and parents how schools or FE and skills providers ensured that pupils or learners understood the range of technical and academic routes available how careers guidance was integrated into the curriculum what training staff had received to deliver careers HMI and/or researchers took notes throughout each activity. This is in line with inspection practice and inspectors and researchers are experienced at capturing data in this way. We did not audio record the activities. Activities were not transcribed verbatim. We gave visit leads time to finalise the evidence collection documents and to write a visit summary. In the visit summary, we asked visit leads to identify any strong practice and challenges, and to provide a summary of the leadership, engagement with stakeholders and curriculum integration they saw on the visits. We also asked HMI to review evidence from other visits to identify strong practice and emerging themes. We used this alongside our literature review and expectations of quality in the EIF to determine examples of good practice. We used MaxQDA to analyse the visits data. We developed an initial coding framework from the inspection evidence analysis. We also used the interview guides and initial reading of the data to inform this. Two researchers independently used this framework to code one visit each, and then met to discuss any problematic or missing codes. They kept a record of suggested changes. Following this meeting, the coding framework was finalised, and one researcher coded the schools data. We developed a separate framework for the FE and skills visit data from the schools visit framework. We added new codes inductively during the coding process. One researcher began coding the FE and skills data, and the research lead finished it. The researcher, research lead and senior research lead met weekly throughout both the schools and FE and skills coding to discuss coding. Once coding was complete, we reviewed code frequencies, retrieved coded segments, and re-read and added additional codes where required. The researcher and research lead involved with coding met to discuss emerging themes and key findings. They made a document that organised codes and key findings under theme headings, which we used as the basis to draft the report. Focus groups with employers and ILPs We held 2 virtual focus groups in May, one for employers and one for ILPs, lasting one and a half hours each. We spoke to 9 employers and 10 ILPs that varied in size and type. The aim of the focus groups was to understand how employers and ILPs work with schools and FE and skills providers, how schools and FE and skills providers engage with them, and the challenges in this area. Each participant received a topic guide that explored the above areas, together with an information sheet, before the focus groups. We held the focus groups virtually and recorded them, with participants’ consent. A member of the research team chaired them. A second member of the research team monitored the chat function and took notes. We drew themes from these notes and used them to triangulate against our other data sets. ‘International approaches to careers interventions’, Department for Education, March 2021. ↩ ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’, Department for Education, January 2023. For more information on the Gatsby benchmarks, see: Good Career Guidance. ↩ For more information on the role of the careers leader see ‘Understanding the role of the Careers Leader: A guide for secondary schools’, The Careers & Enterprise Company, 2018. ↩ ‘Going in the right direction? Careers guidance in schools from September 2012’, Ofsted, September 2013. ↩ ‘Destinations data: Good practice guide for schools’, Department for Education, October 2018. ↩ Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022. ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’, Department for Education, January 2023. ↩ ‘T-level thematic review: final report’, Ofsted; July 2023. ↩ ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’, Department for Education, January 2023. ↩ A Mann, V Denis and C Percy, ‘Career ready? How schools can better prepare young people for working life in the era of COVID-19’, OECD, 2020. ‘International approaches to careers interventions: Literature review’, Department for Education, March 2021. ↩ J Hunt, K Atherton, E Collerton and N Wilkinson, ‘Effective careers interventions for disadvantaged young people a report by the behavioural insights team’, Careers & Enterprise Company, 2021. ↩ ‘Unemployment Rates’, OECD, May 2022. ↩ C Covacevich, A Mann, C Santos and J Champaud, ‘Indicators of teenage career readiness: An analysis of longitudinal data from eight countries’, OECD, 2021. ↩ ‘Investing in career guidance’, CEDEFOP, 2019. ↩ ‘Career Guidance: A Handbook for Policy Makers’, OECD, 2004. ↩ J Holman, ‘Good career guidance’, Gatsby, April 2014. ↩ J Holman, ‘Good career guidance’, Gatsby, April 2014. ↩ ‘International approaches to careers interventions: Literature review’, Department for Education, March 2021. J Collins and A Barnes, ‘Careers in the curriculum. what works?’, The Careers & Enterprise Company, 2017. C Covacevich, A Mann, C Santos and J Champaud, ‘Indicators of teenage career readiness: An analysis of longitudinal data from eight countries’, OECD, 2021. ↩ A Mann, J Rehill and E Kashefpakdel, ‘Employer engagement in education: Insights from international evidence for effective practice and future research’, Education Endowment Foundation, January 2018. E Kashefpakdel and C Percy, ‘Career education that works: an economic analysis using the British cohort study’, in ’Journal of education and work’, volume 30, Issue 3, 2017. ↩ E Kashefpakdel and C Percy, ‘Work experience for all: Exploring the impacts of work experience on young people’s outcomes’, Speakers for schools, November 2022. A Mann, E Kashefpakdel, J Rehill and P Huddleston, ‘Contemporary transitions: young Britons reflect on life after secondary school and college’, Education and Employers, June 2017. ↩ ‘Trends in careers education 2021’, The Careers and Enterprise Company, December 2021. ↩ D Hughes, A Mann, S Barnes and R McKeown, ‘Careers education: international literature review’, Education Endowment Foundation, July 2016. ↩ D Hughes, A Mann, S Barnes and R McKeown, ‘Careers education: international literature review’, Education Endowment Foundation, July 2016. ↩ ‘Going in the right direction? Careers guidance in schools from September 2012’, Ofsted, September 2013. ↩ ‘Education (Careers Guidance in Schools) Act 2022’, National Archives, 2022. ↩ ‘Report of the independent panel on technical education’, Department for Education and Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, July 2016. ↩ P Musset and S Field, ‘A Skills beyond School Review of England, OECD Reviews of Vocational Education and Training’, OECD, 2013. ↩ Education Act 1997, section 42B. ↩ Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022. ↩ ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’, Department for Education, January 2023. ↩ ‘Local skills improvement plans’, Department for Education, October 2022. ↩ ‘Good career guidance: a handbook for secondary schools’, Gatsby, April 2018. ‘Careers strategy: making the most of everyone’s skills and talents’, Department for Education, December 2017. ↩ ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’, Department for Education, January 2023. ↩ ‘Supporting disadvantaged students through higher education outreach’, Office for Students, July 2020. ↩ ‘Young people’s experiences of careers information, advice and guidance’, Department for Education, October 2021. ↩ ‘Trends in careers education 2021’, The Careers and Enterprise Company, December 2021. ↩ ‘Insight briefing: Gatsby benchmark results for 2021/22’, The Careers & Enterprise Company, October 2022. ↩ ‘Youth voice census report 2022’, Youth Employment, September 2022. ↩ A Powell and B Francis-Devine, ‘Youth unemployment statistics June 2023’, House of Commons Library, June 2023, pages 1 to 11. ↩ ‘Careers education, information, advice and guidance: fourth report of session 2022–23’, House of Commons Education Committee, June 2023. ↩ ‘Statistics: destinations of key stage 4 and 16 to 18 (KS5) students’, Department for Education, October 2022. ↩ ‘Statistics: destinations of key stage 4 and 16 to 18 (KS5) students’, Department for Education, October 2022. ‘Academic year 2020/21: 16-18 destination measures’, Department for Education, October 2022. ↩ S Holman, ‘Good career guidance, the next 10 years’, Gatsby, January 2023. ↩ ‘Careers education, information, advice and guidance: fourth report of session 2022–23’, House of Commons Education Committee, June 2023. ↩ ‘Spring Budget 2023’, HM Treasury, March 2023. ↩ ‘Education inspection framework for September 2023’, Ofsted, July 2023. ↩ ‘School inspection handbook’, Ofsted, August 2023. ‘Further education and skills handbook’, Ofsted, July 2023. ↩ ‘Career development framework: learning areas by key stage’, Career Development Institute, April 2021. ↩ ‘International approaches to careers interventions’, Department for Education, March 2021. ↩ Dr D Hughes, Dr A Mann, Dr S Barnes and others, ‘Careers education: international literature review’, July 2016. ↩ J Holman, ‘Good career guidance’, Gatsby, April 2014. ↩ ‘International approaches to careers interventions: literature review’, Department for Education, March 2021. ↩ J Collins and A Barnes, ‘Careers in the curriculum. What works?’, The Careers & Enterprise Company, 2017. ↩ P Sadler, G Sonnert, Z Hazari and R Tai, ‘Stability and volatility of STEM career interest in hight school: a gender study’, in ‘Science Education’, Volume 96, Issue 3, 2012, pages 411 to 427. ↩ ‘Programme of study for PSHE education, key stages 1–5’, PSHE Association. ↩ ‘Career development framework: learning areas by key stage’, Career Development Institute, April 2021. ↩ ‘International approaches to careers interventions’, Department for Education, March 2021. ↩ J Holman, ‘Good career guidance’, Gatsby, April 2014. ↩ ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’, Department for Education; January 2023. ↩ J Cockett, E Pollard and M Williams, [‘The professional careers adviser workforce’], Institute for Employment Studies, March 2021. ↩ E Kashefpakdel and C Percy, ‘Career education that works: an economic analysis using the British cohort study’, in ‘Journal of education and work’, volume 30, Issue 3, April 2016. ↩ J Holman, ‘Good career guidance’, Gatsby, April 2014. ↩ For instance, see ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’, Department for Education; January 2023. ↩ ‘International approaches to careers interventions’, Department for Education, March 2021. ↩ P Musset and L Kureková, ‘Working it out’, July 2018. ↩ ‘International approaches to careers interventions’, Department for Education, March 2021. J Hunt, K Atherton, E Collerton and N Wilkinson, ‘Effective careers interventions for disadvantaged young people: A report by the behavioural and insights team’, The Careers and Enterprise Company, November 2021. ↩ J Hunt, K Atherton, E Collerton and N Wilkinson, ‘Effective careers interventions for disadvantaged young people: A report by the behavioural and insights team’, The Careers and Enterprise Company, November 2021. ↩ J Holman, ‘Good career guidance’, Gatsby, April 2014. ↩ D Hughes, A Mann, S Barnes and others, ‘Careers education: International literature review’, July 2016. S Barnes, J Brimrose, A Brown and J Gough, ‘The role of parents and carers in providing careers guidance and how they can be better supported: Evidence report’, in ‘Warwick Institute for Employment Research’, March 2020, pages 1 to 78. ↩ ‘Youth voice census: 2022 report’, Youth Employment UK, 2022. ↩ S Barnes, J Brimrose, A Brown and J Gough, ‘The role of parents and carers in providing careers guidance and how they can be better supported: Evidence report’, in ‘Warwick Institute for Employment Research’, March 2020, pages 1 to 78. ↩ For example: M Brockmann, L Clarke and C Winch, ‘Knowledge, skills, competence: European divergences in vocational education and training (VET) – the English, German and Dutch cases, in ‘Oxford Review of Education’, Volume 34, Issue 5, 2008, pages 547 to 567; H Rainbird, A Fuller and A Munro, ‘Workplace learning in context’, Routledge, 2004; A Fuller and L Unwin, ‘Fostering Workplace Learning: looking through the lens of apprenticeship’, in ‘European Educational Research Journal’, Volume 2, Issue 1, pages 41 to 55. ↩ A G Watts, ‘The relationship of career guidance to VET’, National Institute for Careers Education and Counselling, September 2009. ↩ ‘Careers leadership in colleges: supporting learners through a “whole-college” approach’, The Careers & Enterprise Company, June 2021. ↩ ‘Educational effectiveness research and further education and skills’, Ofsted, June 2019. ↩ T McCrone, R White, K Kettlewell, D Sims and others, ‘Evaluation of university technical colleges’, National Foundation Educational Research (NFER), 2019. ↩ R Long and P Bolton, ‘University technical colleges’, January 2016. ↩ ‘Terms of reference: Ofsted’s thematic review of careers guidance’, Ofsted, November 2022. ↩ ‘How we carry out ethical research with people’, Ofsted, December 2019. ↩ Compass and Compass+ are free tools created by the CEC. Compass allows schools and colleges to evaluate their careers provision against the Gatsby benchmarks. Compass+ is a free upgrade for eligible schools and allows them to track careers provision at an individual pupil level. Other tools are also available for schools to manage, track and evaluate their careers provision. ↩ For instance, see ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’, Department for Education, January 2023. ↩ ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’, Department for Education, January 2023. ↩ For further research on this topic, see J Abrahams, ‘Option blocks that block options: exploring inequalities in GCSE and A-level options in England’, in British Journal of Sociology of Education, Volume 39, 2018, pages 1143 to 1159. ↩ ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’, Department for Education, January 2023. ↩ Compass is a free tool for FE and skills providers to evaluate their careers provision against the Gatsby benchmarks. Other tools are also available for FE and skills providers to monitor and evaluate their careers provision. ↩ RAG rating can be used to assess whether actions or targets are off target (red), at risk (amber) or on track (green). ↩ Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, part 1, chapter 1. ↩ ‘T-level thematic review: final report’, Ofsted; July 2023. ↩ ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’, Department for Education; January 2023. ↩ ‘How we carry out ethical research with people’, Ofsted, December 2019. ↩ Education Act 1997. ↩ ‘Grey literature’ is a term used for literature produced by organisations outside of the traditional commercial or academic publishing and distribution channels. ↩ ‘Terms of reference: Ofsted’s thematic review of careers guidance’, Ofsted, November 2022. ↩ For Ofsted regions, see: About us: who we are. ↩ Back to top
Mar 27, 2020 · This paper teases out convergence and divergence in career guidance practice in each country exploring the socio-political discourse, types of career guidance delivery and the implications for professional practice.
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Jan 16, 2023 · This study makes a novel contribution by extending a developmental-educational theory of interest to illuminate how students’ career interests develop during university and influences on those career interests, suggesting ways to enhance development.
