Official UK Govenment communications.
Letter from Sir John Holman to Department of Further Education and the Department of Work and Pensions. Re: Careers Guidance System in England.
The full 8 page letter can be read here.
Summary.
Careers practitioners, employers, schools, colleges, local bodies and other interested parties have had eighteen months of conversations with each other and conducted a review on the evidence from the relevant UK government departments.
Outline.
As a result of this investigation nine strategic principles were developed to improve issues in existing infrastructures and develop an overall “all age” careers system. These principles are designed revolutionize how the entire scope of jobs fits into society as a whole.
Although these sweeping changes come with some challenges, if fulfilled there would be significant shifts in the institution’s organization and influence.
The Vision.
Careers advice should be tailored to the individual, not just providing generic information but leveraging a combination of comprehensive and dynamic information and data to ensure aspiring individuals have access to the most accurate, relevant and up-to-date advice on education, employment and training options.
Careers guidance must also be mindful of local & national economic demands in order for it to effectively match talent with available opportunities; ideally enabling every individual to realise their ambitions as well as maximising whatever taxpayers’ money that has been allocated towards this kind of service. It is by maintaining an holistic approach that can see an individual progress through the successive stages of their career.
9 Strategic Principles.
- The government’s collective careers guidance activities should be underpinned by a public
strategic framework, which provides overarching direction, priorities, and objectives for careers
services and is underpinned by a common taxonomy, information, and data architecture. - For young people in education, DfE should continue to delegate the delivery of careers activity
to schools and colleges, with a single organisation providing support and challenge.
Consideration must be given to the most appropriate body to support 16 and 17-year-olds
that are not participating in education or training. - For adults (18 and over), DfE’s focus should be on adults in work, helping them into successful
long-term careers (or series of careers), by supporting them to gain better education, training,
and skills. The relationship between adult careers advisers and local colleges should be
strengthened. - DWP should provide careers information and guidance to people who are out of work or in low-paid work in order to move more of this group away from universal credit and into good jobs
as a priority – but the objectives and incentives of the short-term jobs support and longer-term
careers advice should be complementary, not competitive. - For both young people and adults, government should have robust procedures to assure the
quality of delivery of career guidance. - Information about occupations and careers should be based on a single source of
government-assured information and data which is transparent, accessible to all users and
third parties, and up to the minute. It should be accessible in different formats by different
demographics and include information on the skills needs of employers and the economy,
both locally and nationally. - The single information source should make it possible for people, and their advisers, to see
the connection between skills needs (local and national) and the opportunities available to
them to acquire those skills through publicly funded training. Local skills needs should reflect
the local skills improvement plan. - There should be a balance between meeting local needs and national needs. Careers
guidance should be clearly aligned with Local Skills Improvement Plans and coordinated with
relevant devolved authorities. FE Colleges should be a core part of ensuring local careers and
skills needs are met. - All those who may need or want to use the government’s careers guidance offer need to
understand what is available and how they can access it. The careers guidance offer needs
to be clearly communicated and to support this, all government’s careers offers should be
delivered under a common branding.
Response from the Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education.
The official response can be seen here.
Conclusion.
The government has put together a set of principles to help guide their work in careers guidance. These principles focus on making sure that the advice given is accurate, relevant, and up-to-date. They also emphasize the need for a holistic approach that can see individuals progress through their career stages.
By following these principles, the government hopes to provide quality careers guidance that meets the needs of everyone who may need it.
Sources: THX News & THX UK Government.
