Ministers should task Ofsted with having a strong focus on careers education and checking whether schools are meeting expected benchmarks, according to a new report from MPs.
The Commons Education Select Committee’s report also says delivering more careers education in primary schools could help to raise pupil aspirations and break down negative stereotypes about gender and background.
It also calls on the government to provide a one-off funding round to support schools with the worst records on careers education.
The report follows the committee’s inquiry into the quality of Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) delivered in schools and colleges.
It warns of a lack of time and resources that schools are able to dedicate to careers education.
The report says that as part of the Department for Education’s updated careers strategy, Ofsted should be “tasked with upholding a strong focus on CEIAG provision and monitoring whether schools are meeting the Gatsby benchmarks when inspecting schools”.
The Gatsby benchmarks were developed in 2014 to set out what good career guidance looks like. They are non-statutory, but the DfE guidance says secondary schools are expected to use them to develop their careers programme.
The committee warned that, on average, schools are meeting only half of the benchmarks.
It also warned that the absence of any equivalent to the Gatsby benchmarks at primary level needs addressing.
Robin Walker, committee chair, said: “We heard how careers education at primary school can counter negative stereotypes around gender, race and economic background that become embedded in pupils’ minds.
“It can raise the aspirations of children with [special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)] by highlighting the multitude of jobs they can aspire to do.
“Learning about different jobs also helps inform children’s subject choices as they progress through the school system.
“After a period of slow progress and patchy provision, this report outlines a number of steps DfE and Ofsted could undertake over the next couple of years, building on work they are already doing, to put careers education back on the map and in the minds of school leaders, staff and employers around the country.”
The report highlights how witnesses criticised the DfE for not having updated its 2017-20 careers strategy.
It recommends that the DfE publishes an updated careers strategy, which includes targets for the number of schools achieving the Gatsby benchmarks.
Rolling out careers education in primaries
It also calls on the DfE to hold an evaluation of the £2.6 million careers programme, which it launched in January, after 12 months.
The programme supported CEIAG being delivered in a small number of primary schools.
The committee recommends that if shown to have been a success, this pilot programme should be scaled up nationally.
The report also highlights how pupils with SEND often do not receive the right support due to a lack of specialist careers advisers, low expertise among Sendcos and a lack of accessible work placements.
The report recommends that the DfE works with the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) to publish data on the proportion of Sendcos who have had careers training and set out plans to ensure all Sendcos are fully trained and working with careers leaders.
More funding needed
When responsibility for CEIAG was transferred to schools and colleges in 2012, it meant funding had to come out of settings’ existing budgets.
This has caused significant disparities in provision between different schools and colleges, the committee warned.
MPs also said DfE’s expenditure on CEIAG provision through the CEC “falls far short of what is needed”.
It recommends that the DfE should issue a one-off round of developmental funding to support schools that have the worst record on achieving the Gatsby benchmarks, and calls on the DfE to pilot a programme of funding careers advisers directly through the CEC, rather than requiring schools and colleges to buy in this support from their existing budgets.
An Ofsted spokesperson said: “It is crucial that young people have access to information on the full range of career pathways available so they can make informed choices about their next steps.
“That’s why careers education and support is a key focus of the leadership and management judgement in our inspections. We will be considering the report’s recommendations about our work carefully.”
