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Ofsted should downgrade schools where careers provision is inadequate, new Commons report suggests

A new Commons joint committee report urges the Government to incentivise schools to improve careers education and Ofsted to take a tougher approach in inspections, after finding career guidance in many schools to be inadequate.

The first joint report of the Business, Innovation & Skills and Education Committees found that too many young people are leaving education without having had the chance to fully consider their future options or how their skills and experiences fit with opportunities in the jobs market, which ultimately can have a negative impact on the country’s productivity.

The “Careers education, information, advice and guidance” report also judged that several policy changes, initiatives and new bodies introduced in recent years have “failed to make serious improvements and in some cases have even been counter-productive”.

Its recommendations to the Government for a future careers strategy are:

Chair of the Education Committee, Neil Carmichael MP said: “At a time when it is vital we equip young people with the right skills for their working lives, it’s concerning that so many are being failed by the guidance they receive.

“Careers advice should be a core part of a young person’s schooling but at the moment it is little more than a poorly thought out add-on. Schools should be incentivised to treat careers education, advice, information and guidance as a priority.

“The Committee recommends Ofsted plays a bigger role in ensuring careers guidance is up to scratch by downgrading those who do not deliver high quality provision. A school should not be graded as ‘good’ if its careers provision is inadequate.”

The North East is piloting an initiative to improve careers education and guidance in schools. The pilot to assess the effectiveness of the Gatsby eight benchmarks for good career guidance was launched in 2015, in partnership with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (North East LEP) and schools and colleges across the region.

Ryan Gibson, National Facilitator: Career Benchmarks Pilot, North East LEP, said:

“If young people know more about the range of careers open to people with the right qualifications, they will have a clearer idea of the routes to more and better jobs. As the select committee report indicates, and the Gatsby Foundation’s ‘Good Career Guidance’ report highlights, there is no single magic bullet for good career guidance. It is about doing a number of things, identified in the eight benchmarks of good career guidance, doing them consistently, doing them well and doing them for each and every student.

“Schools that are part of the Career Benchmarks Pilot are already making significant and rapid progress towards achieving the Benchmarks. It is only the first year of the Pilot and we are already seeing an increase in careers related activities and schools placing greater investment in careers education.

“The Benchmarks address many of the recommendations made by the select committee and are already positively transforming the provision for good careers guidance in schools and colleges across the region. I work closely with Marie Jobson, Head of Post 16 Education at Churchill Community College in Wallsend, she commented, “The career benchmarks pilot has made the provision of good career guidance a priority for us. Preparing young people to make more informed career choices is now at the heart of what we do and is no longer a ‘bolt on’ to our provision or curriculum.”

“Reaching the standard of the benchmarks is potentially within the grasp of all schools. Many schools already deliver a lot of good career guidance activity and with some adaptation, extension and greater coordination, reaching all of the benchmarks is realistic.“