Careers guidance in schools today and how you can get involved

Titan Partnership

If you’ve visited a school recently, you may have heard mention of Gatsby and thought you’d wandered into an English Literature lesson.

The Gatsby Benchmarks are a hot topic within the world of careers at the moment and have nothing to do with the great novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The Government Careers Strategy in Schools: The Gatsby Benchmarks have been referenced throughout the DfE’s Careers Strategy (December 2017) and the new Statutory Guidance for Careers (January 2018).

The Government aims to build a world class careers system; to make sure that all young people receive good advice and guidance.

Schools have a LEGAL duty to secure independent careers guidance and to allow access to employers and providers of technical education and Apprenticeships.

So, what are the Gatsby Benchmarks and what does it mean in terms of careers guidance for young people? And now for the Science bit……

So, here’s a brief history…

In 2014, the Gatsby Foundation (originally set up by Lord Sainsbury to realise his charitable objectives) published a report by Professor Sir John Holman, Adviser in Education at the Gatsby Foundation, titled ‘Good Career Guidance.’

This report identified 8 Benchmarks for a good careers programme in schools:

1. A Stable Careers Programme
2. Learning from Career and Labour Market Information
3. Addressing the Needs of Each Pupil
4. Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers
5. Encounters with Employers
6. Experiences of Workplaces
7. Encounters with Further and Higher Education
8. Personal Guidance

So, what does all this mean for you as an employer?

As an employer, you can support all of these Benchmarks but in particular, Benchmark 4, 5 and 6 are where you can make a real difference to the lives of young people.

We all remember learning Pythagoras’ Theorem in school but do you use this in your everyday work and could explain to pupils why it is relevant?

Or perhaps you use the French you learned at school in your business transactions?

Maybe you can give up your time to support the careers programme in schools by delivering talks, attending careers fairs, providing mock interviews or by mentoring young people?

Or perhaps you can provide visits to your workplace or work experience placements for young people?

All of this not only helps develop employability skills in young people but also supports your company’s CSR commitments.

So, a win-win for everyone!

To find out more about the Titan Partnership and how we can work with you to support schools fulfil their careers commitments, please see www.titan.org.uk or contact Kim Newman on kim.newman@titan.org.uk