Careers Strategy is launched

6 December 2017

Anne Milton, Skills Minister launches the long-awaited Careers Strategy at the Career Development Institute (CDI) annual conference in Birmingham on December 4 2017.

The Careers Strategy makes reference to the Industrial Strategy published at the end of November.

A few key points:

  1. The Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) will now have responsibility for helping schools to achieve all eight Gatsby Benchmarks, a task made easier by the government’s determination to ensure that all Secondary schools appoint a Careers Leader by September 2018. Careers Leaders will:
    1. Have the appropriate skills and experience
    2. Be sufficiently senior to lead implementation of all eight of the Gatsby Benchmarks
    3. Have buy-in from the Governors and the Senior Leadership team
    4. Work with subject teachers across the school so that careers provision is embedded within the curriculum.
  2. By January 2018;
    • Schools and colleges should use the Gatsby Benchmarks to improve careers provision, as set out in new statutory guidance. To evaluate careers activity against best practice, the CEC, in partnership with Gatsby Charitable Foundation has developed Compass, a free to use toolkit
    • Schools must give providers of technical education and apprenticeships the opportunity to talk to all pupils (Benchmark 7).
  3. By September 2018;
    • Job specification and standards for Careers Leaders developed (the CEC is involved here) and started to be used by schools and colleges
    • A named Careers Leader should lead the careers programme in every school and college
    • The CEC will begin to take on a broader role across all eight Gatsby Benchmarks
  4. During 2018 and 2019;
    • CEC triples number of Cornerstone Employers to 150 across England
    • CEC will provide tools to help schools and colleges meet the Gatsby Benchmarks
  5. By the end of 2020;
    • All schools and colleges will have access to an Enterprise Adviser.
    • Schools should offer every student seven encounters with employers - at least one per year from year 7 to year 13.

Read the Careers Strategy: Making the most of everyone’s skills and talents.

Questions? Please read The Careers Strategy - CEC FAQs

Contact Details

Munya Badze
Email: Munya.Badze@kent.gov.uk

Simon Harris
Email: Simon.Harris@sevenoaks.gov.uk