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<p>The government’s careers strategy puts employers at the heart of a high-quality
careers programme for young people. We are asking every school and college to use
the Gatsby benchmarks that define all the elements of excellent careers provision,
including encounters with employers and employees and experiences of workplaces. They
will be measured against these benchmarks.</p><p> </p><p>Statutory guidance, ‘Careers
guidance and access for education and training providers’ (attached), published in
January 2018, sets out how schools meet the Gatsby benchmarks. We will shortly publish
equivalent guidance for colleges. The guidance documents include an expectation that
each school and college offer every young person at least one encounter with an employer
each year from years 7 to 13. Due to the growing demand for science, technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM) skills, particularly in sectors such as engineering, construction
and manufacturing, this should include encounters with STEM employers. Rather than
defining STEM in a particular way, our statutory guidance sets out that schools should
give pupils access to a broad range of STEM employers. We want employers of all sizes,
and from all sectors, to offer encounters that inspire people and provide information
regarding the skills that employers need. We have also placed a new legal duty on
schools to ensure there are sufficient opportunities for young people to hear directly
from providers of technical education qualifications and apprenticeships. This will
ensure that young people learn about the alternatives to academic and school-based
routes, leading to better-informed choices.</p><p> </p><p>The statutory guidance outlines
that schools and colleges should begin to work towards meeting the benchmarks by the
end of 2020. Schools can assess how their support compares against the benchmarks
by using Compass, an online self-assessment tool developed by The Careers & Enterprise
Company (CEC) and The Gatsby Charitable Foundation. The CEC will publish a report
annually, based on data gathered from the Compass tool, showing what progress schools
and colleges have made in meeting the Gatsby benchmarks.</p><p> </p><p>Ofsted will
continue to hold schools and colleges to account for the quality of careers provision.
Matters relating to careers guidance contribute to judgements under three of the four
areas in the school inspection handbook, and all four areas of the further education
and skills inspection handbook. Through its training and communications with inspectors,
Ofsted continues to remind inspectors of the importance of careers guidance.</p>
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