House of Commons Education Committee calls for more protection for careers services
19 July 2011
A House of Commons Education Committee report on Participation by 16-19 Year Olds in Education and Training, published today (July 19 2011), contains the following recommendations on careers services:
Careers services:
- 25. We recognise the difficult financial circumstances in which local authorities find themselves. However, the sharp reduction in the availability of career guidance services for young people outside schools is damaging and should not be allowed to continue. Any reductions in Connexions services should be proportionate, and local authorities should respect the duty imposed by Parliament. The Government should assess local authorities' compliance with their statutory duties and should not hold back from taking legal action, if necessary, to ensure compliance. (Paragraph 148)
- 26. We believe that there should be some form of clear accountability measure for the quality, impartiality and extent of career guidance services in schools. We recommend that Ofsted school inspections should, as part of the pupil achievement strand within the framework for inspection of schools, assess specifically whether schools are meeting their statutory duty to secure the provision of independent and impartial career guidance. (Paragraph 155)
- 27. We recommend that the all age careers service should be funded by the Department for Education for face to face career guidance for young people. (Paragraph 156)
- 28. We recommend that the Department's consultation on the age of pupils for whom schools should provide career guidance should be extended to examine the case for the statutory duty to apply to pupils in Year 7. (Paragraph 160)
A full copy of the report is available by following the link below
(The relevant section is Section 5 pp. 54-59).
