Research reveals benefits of high-quality careers education
Derren Hayes
Monday, May 15, 2023
Schools that achieve the highest standards for careers advice and guidance significantly reduces the chances of their students going on to be not in education, employment or training (NEET), latest analysis shows.
Analysis of year 11 pupils' destination data between 2016/17 and 2018/19 by the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) shows that each of the eight Gatsby Benchmarks a school achieves reduces the odds of a young person being NEET or in an “unknown destination” by 1.1 per cent.
The Gatsby Benchmarks, developed by the Gatsby Foundation and first published in 2014, are a set of eight standards for careers education covering issues such as advice and guidance, teaching about jobs and access to work experience opportunities.
The CEC analysis shows that the beneficial impact of achieving the benchmarks is roughly twice as strong for schools with the most economically disadvantaged pupils as measured by through the free school meals entitlement.
Pupils that attended schools that achieved all eight benchmarks were 20 per cent less likely to be NEET and these settings saw a 17 per cent increase in apprenticeship uptake post-16.
The CEC report also surveyed 35,000 young people, with three-quarters of respondents saying they felt career ready by year 13, awareness of apprenticeships had doubled by year 11 and work experience participation had risen back to pre-pandemic levels.
The Ready for the Future report found that more than four in five schools in a Careers Hub since 2018 engage with at least 10 businesses, compared with 48 per cent who are not in a Careers Hub. More than nine in 10 colleges linked maths and English lessons with careers. Three quarters of schools linked maths and English to careers and nearly four in five did the same with science.
Oli de Botton, chief executive of CEC, said: “A consensus is now emerging about what good careers provision looks like, backed by a growing body of evidence about what works.
“It’s about the early and sustained involvement of employers and information about the diverse range of pathways to work, including the non-traditional routes. It’s about bringing careers into the mainstream of school and college life – linking lessons to life beyond education - and it’s about targeted support for those who face the most barriers.”
