Benchmark 3

Addressing the needs of each student

Schools and colleges should have a strategic overview of a student’s journey and should have in place a scheme of learning which is underpinned by inspirational encounters and activities which actively challenge stereotypes and raise aspirations.

Students will have different career guidance needs at different stages and it is vital that advice and support are tailored to meet individual needs. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout. A ‘one size fits all’ programme doesn’t work and careers leaders need to commit to delivering a programme of learning that helps all students make informed choices, regardless of their backgrounds or additional needs.

Gatsby recommends that Careers practitioners use systematic recording to monitor and ensure all students are actively included within the careers plan and ideally that students themselves are able to access these records to encourage them to be responsible for their own learning.

Getting started with BM3

Refer to the CDI Framework and Skills Builder to ensure that your progressive careers programme scaffolds student knowledge and understanding linked to allow students to challenge stereotypical thinking and raise aspirations.
Explore how Compass+ can support with the collection and visualisation of Destination Data.
Consider how to engage students and track actual and intended destinations. The DfE will soon be releasing updated Destinations Data Good Practice Guide. Refer to resource and support from Benchmark 1 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gthe3UAzdH0

To address the needs of each student a school must provide:

A scheme of learning and experiences that meet students’ individual needs
Encounters with a range of employers to inspire students about different career pathways
Encounters with successful role models who can connect with students of similar backgrounds to help raise aspirations
Accessible information and activities delivered in such a way that it remains interesting and inspirational without being overwhelming to the individual and does not preclude any groups
An understanding of what their individual career journey will look like in terms of experiences, skill building and knowledge gathering

What does good look like?

Young people have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each pupil. A school’s or college’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout.

>> A school’s or college’s careers programme should actively seek to challenge stereotypical thinking and raise aspirations.

>> Schools and colleges should keep systematic records of the individual advice given to each student, and subsequent agreed decisions. All students should have access to these records to support their career development.

>> The records of advice given should be integrated with those given at the previous stage of the student’s education (including their secondary school) where these are made available. Records should begin to be kept from the first point of contact or from the point of transition.

>> Schools should collect and maintain accurate data for each pupil on their education, training or employment destinations for at least three years after they leave school. This data should be used to review a school or college’s careers provision and inform development and continuous improvement.

>> Colleges should collect and maintain accurate data for each student on their education, training or employment destinations. This data should be used to review a school or college’s careers provision and inform development and continuous improvement.

Why does this matter?

>> 26% of young people who received free school meals (FSM) in year 11 are not in education or employment (NEET) aged 18-24, compared to 13% of non-FSM students.

>> High achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to apply to higher education, attend a high-status university, or access high status professional jobs than similarly qualified peers from more affluent backgrounds.

>> FSM students make up only 16.7% of students in KS5 (16-18 years) academic pathways in comparison to 28% on vocational pathways.

>> 1,400 more students per year in post-16 EET during 2018/19 connected to schools’ reported Gatsby Benchmark provision.

Top tips for schools

Plan

Make sure you are compliant with statutory guidance and review your website and resources to ensure you cover all routes and engage the interests of students.
Check that you are making good use of resources available through your Local Enterprise Partnership, via the Enterprise Adviser Network.

Deliver

Start early so that young people and their parents have a good amount of time to explore opportunities and build full and realistic pictures of the job market.
Ensure events and parents’ evenings explain and promote the full range of opportunities in an impartial way, including emerging technical levels. This should also include information about local University Technical Colleges and studio schools to support decisions at the 14+ level.
Draw on JobCentre Plus schools advisers to come in to talk to pupils, parents and staff about local LMI and apprenticeships. Your Enterprise Adviser and Enterprise Coordinator will provide local contact details.
Train older students to support younger colleagues to make use of key careers information resources.
Make use of a wide range of media to encourage students in their career exploration including social media, posters, websites and physical resources.
Develop a careers assembly plan that identifies careers information topics appropriate for each year group.

Measure

Plan regular monitoring of the programme using data tracking an stakeholder voice.
Work with students, staff and parents to get recorded feedback on a regular basis to inform future planning and delivery of careers programme.

Tips for employers

» Provide references to good sources of information as part of employer engagement events.

» Encourage students to undertake follow-up research so that they can find out more and start to put plans into action.

» Provide practical examples of how different subjects are used within the workplace so that students value the skills and knowledge they are
developing at school.

» Illustrate your talks with film clips or job profiles from free careers resources, such as ‘I Could’ or the National Careers Service.

» Bring talks to life with concrete case studies that show diverse pathways and job opportunities in your organisation. You should also provide your organisation’s websites with details of entry requirements.

» Share your insights into trends in the labour market as part of your contribution but encourage students to do their own research too.

» Contribute to the training of teachers and Careers Advisers about changes in the labour market to ensure those working directly with students on a day-to-day basis are up-to-date.

» Listen to what young people say about careers information and share these insights with schools and the Enterprise Adviser Network to support ongoing improvement in the impact of careers messaging.

» When planning staff CPD, make sure that LMI is shared with staff in a way that they can understand and embed through curriculum learning.