Benchmark 8
Personal Guidance
Every pupil should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a Careers Adviser, who could be internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. These should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made. They should be expected for all pupils but should be timed to meet their individual needs.
What does good look like?
Every student should have at least one guidance interview by the age of 16, and the opportunity for a further interview by the age of 18.
Careers guidance activities can include:
- listening to students’ initial ideas, qualifications, skills, experiences, circumstances and life aims
- helping students to identify and explore suitable options and to consider the career implications of subject and course choice that are in their best interests
- challenging pre-existing assumptions about what they are capable of
- developing practical strategies on how to achieve their goals, including pointing students to information sources of most use to them
Why does this matter?
- Providing structured personal guidance time within the school enables students to focus on their future dreams and to set goals to achieve them
- Research shows that students benefit from conversations with familiar and trusted adults who can challenge and support them
- Access to independent and impartial professional careers guidance is strongly valued by students and parents and is a recurring feature of good provision
Tips for Employers
>> Find out what arrangements the school has put in place for a student’s personal guidance
>> Work with the school and the Careers Adviser to ensure personal guidance connects to other careers interventions
>> Work with the school to ensure students are prepared to benefit from employer encounters and experiences of work
>> Encourage students to make best use of the personal guidance on offer