Careers strategy 'will fail' most disadvantaged pupils

The Career Development Institute (CDI), which represents careers guidance professionals, says measures in the Careers Strategy, published in December 2017, will fail to tackle disadvantages for many young people who have been excluded, are being home educated or are already in work-based training or apprenticeships.

The CDI says the strategy will fail to live up to its aim to improve careers advice for the most educationally disadvantaged groups of children because it only focuses on schools.

"One of the flaws of a school-based model of careers guidance is that it assumes all young people are in school," says a CDI statement, part of its response to the consultation on the strategy.

"But we know that several thousand young people in England are not in a school or a college. Some have been excluded, many others are home-educated. Where do these young people, who are often the most vulnerable, go to access high-quality, impartial career guidance services and post-16 learning opportunities?"

It adds: "Similarly, it is not at all clear where young people in work-based training and on apprenticeships, should go for careers guidance.

"A strategy that relies solely on schools and colleges securing access to careers guidance is not inclusive: a significant number of young people miss out."

The institute is calling on the government to do more to improve access to careers guidance for those not in school.

The strategy outlines an expectation on all schools and colleges to prioritise support for disadvantaged children and have a designated careers leader in place by September 2018 to co-ordinate careers activities.

Other measures include creating 20 careers hubs in disadvantaged areas, to link schools, colleges, universities and local businesses; and expecting primary schools to encourage local employers to meet pupils.

The CDI highlights three further improvements it would like to see made.

It is calling for schools to be handed a development fund to ensure they are able to implement the improvements, a statutory duty placed on schools for careers education to be included in the curriculum, and the creation of the National Careers Service website made a priority.

The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.