Since 2018, schools have been required to implement eight benchmarks around careers guidance – but many are still struggling to do so. Here, two teachers share their advice
It has been almost ten years since the Gatsby benchmarks were first touted in a research report from the Gatsby Foundation, and in 2018, the eight benchmarks became statutory careers requirements for schools.
Schools know the importance of having a strong careers programme for every student, but many schools struggle to implement all eight. Here, two teachers share their advice.
Make use of external resources
Megan Rutter, an English teacher and careers leader at a mixed secondary school in Leeds, says:
If you’re not already in touch with your local enterprise coordinator, make contact with them; they’re an instrumental, fully-funded resource to any school and will be able to offer expert advice, tailored specifically to your school setting.
Make sure you tap into the expertise of other local careers leaders too: contact local schools and set up a networking group that meets termly to share best practice. It really is one of the most useful ways to progress in hitting the Gatsby benchmarks.
As well as leaning on external resources, careers leads need to be able to rely on other members of staff within the school: one person trying to meet the needs of over 1,000 students is going to be impossible. The senior leadership team, pastoral and faculty leads all need to play their part.
Where possible, create opportunities for students like drop-down days, careers fairs and guidance interviews. They can help students gain the information needed for them to develop their own goals and aspirations, as well as provide time to reflect on their own individual pathways.
For every job a student is interested in, there is an abundance of experts and resources out there for you to make use of. Sign up to different careers mailing lists and you’ll soon be inundated with local, and national, opportunities to tell your students about and for your students to access.
Collecting destination data is a huge job, and it’s tempting to file it away, without really analysing it. But taking the time to look at where your former students have ended up, and seeing if there are any patterns, can help you to discover what has, and hasn’t, worked in the past.
Include careers in lesson objectives
Calvin Hand, a programme leader for geography and RE, says:
As a geography department, we have made significant strides to improve our careers provision in the past couple of years, and have even won a Quality in Careers Standard in June 2021 as recognition of our work.
Really focusing on the fourth Gatsby Benchmark - linking curriculum to careers - has been instrumental in this success. So how do we do it?
In geography, we signpost career examples from the very beginning of a lesson and make sure they link to lesson content on our title and objective PowerPoint slide.
If students are learning about coastal management at key stage 3 or key stage 4, for example, staff may discuss with students real-life examples of careers such as a coastal engineer or working in a career using geographical information systems (GIS) to monitor rates of coastal erosion.
As well as this, staff highlight the core competencies needed for the careers, such as decision making, resilience and problem solving.
Three times a year in KS3, we structure a lesson specifically around a career to make the learning relevant and relatable. In Year 9, for example, a lesson on urban sustainability is taught through the role of a town planner who wants to incorporate features of sustainability into new developments. This includes opportunities for students to adopt the role for themselves, make decisions and consider the views of different stakeholders to justify their choices.
Across the school generally, we’ve also introduced “enterprise” as a separate subject at KS3. It’s covered in three hours across a fortnight timetable, and it combines essential business concepts like marketing and finance, as well as IT skills.
The subject really helps us to hit the benchmarks, and to make the skills relevant and applicable, we teach a large number of them through alumni and other projects. A former student of ours has his own trainer customisation business, so one project has been to design his website and marketing material, for example.
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