Bitesize Research: Careers Education Provision For Young People

By Jaya Carrier

I hope everyone had a good week so far! I’ve been looking at some themes we’ll be touching upon in September INSET, one of which is careers. We also had a really interesting Wednesday briefing from Alex James looking at destinations and UCAS a few weeks ago, and we’ve got work experience for YR10 and YR12 coming up in July. As such, this week, I was interested in a recent report from March 2022 by the Sutton Trust on Careers education. Objectives:

To understand the current provision available to young people about their careers and the barriers to improving careers education and guidance. Summary:

• The report suggests that there are two divisions in the current provision for young people across the UK. Firstly between state schools in different areas of affluence, and secondly between the state and private sector.
• The research suggests that 32% of teachers in the state sector believe they don’t have enough funding to deliver good careers education, compared to 6% of private school teachers.
• The research suggests that 51% of teachers in state schools believe that there isn’t enough staff time for good careers education, whereas this is 33% in private schools.
• One-third of secondary pupils felt that they were not confident in taking their next steps after leaving school, and a similar proportion said that had not received any work experience whilst at secondary school.
• The Sutton Trust therefore is recommending the following:
• Better access to careers advisers - including having a dedicated careers lead in school
• Time in the curriculum - suggesting that schools need to protect and include ringfenced time for careers education
• Apprenticeship support - currently, pupils are four times less likely to receive substantial guidance on apprenticeship routes than on traditional university ones

How does this impact me and my practice?:

Some reflection questions arising from this that might be helpful to consider are:

• How do I support my students’ and tutees’ in their understanding of careers and the world of work currently?
• How does my curriculum support careers information, advice and guidance on entry to, and be more effective workers within, a wide range of careers in my subject’s industry?
• How do I provide encounters with organisations and employers that compliment my curriculum offer?
• What support do I need further to help with this?
• How much knowledge and understanding do I have of apprenticeship routes?

If you would like to discuss this further with me please get in touch! I’d be delighted to hear from you!