Local authorities will retain their statutory duty to encourage, enable or assist young people's participation in education and training but there will be no expectation that local authorities should provide universal careers services or continue Connexions in its present form. There will be continued commitment from government to raising the participation age to 18 by 2015 and local authorities will receive an Early Intervention Grant which will be used, in part, to support vulnerable young people to engage in education and training, intervening early with those at risk of disengagement.

Government will establish a National Careers Service which will provide a website and telephone helpline for young people and adults and a face-to-face service for adults. There is no suggestion at the present time that the National Careers Service will offer a face to face service for young people.

Subject to the passages of the Education Bill through Parliament it is expected that schools will, from September 2012, be under a duty to secure and fund access to independent, impartial careers guidance for their students. Schools will be free to make arrangements for careers guidance that fits the needs and circumstances of their students and will be able to engage, as appropriate, in partnerships with external expert providers. There will be a requirement that careers advice is provided by somebody who is not employed by the school to ensure that it is independent and impartial.

Implications
Since 2008 the commissioning of careers advice has been undertaken by local authorities. Careers South West has undertaken this work for the local authorities in the South West Peninsula and has worked in schools, colleges and in community-based settings to provide access to careers advice to all young people and additional support to those vulnerable to becoming unemployed or at risk of disengaging from learning.

From 2012 there will be no face-to-face universal careers advice for young people, except that which is bought in by schools. Therefore it will fall to parents, governors and young people themselves to lobby to ensure that the service that schools are commissioning is appropriate. We would suggest that this means:

A service which is independent, impartial and in the best interest of students. The service should be delivered by somebody who is not employed at the school and provide advice about the full range of opportunities open to young people without being pressured by the school or college to give priority to their own sixth form or other provision.

A service that is of high quality - delivered by qualified careers advisers with access to professional networks through which they are regularly updated on labour market intelligence and changes to the range of opportunities on offer in further and higher education. The service will need to have a track record of high quality delivery, recognised by appropriate quality awards.

A service that provides sufficient access to meet the needs of all students. There should be access for all young people, through the curriculum, to a programme of careers education where they learn about the range of progression opportunities available, how these are structured and how applications are made. To complement this widening of awareness of opportunities there should be help to make decisions and create a plan for their own progression upon leaving school through group activities and individual interviews with a qualified careers adviser.

The quality of the work of schools in providing suitable careers education and guidance for its students can be recognised through Investors in Careers which is an award for high quality delivery in the field of careers advice and careers education.

For further details of the services that Careers South West can provide, including the Investors in Careers award please contact:

Danny Sloman 01566 777672 ext 227or email danny.sloman@careerssw.org

John Davey
10th May 2011