In September 2022, the government updated its statutory guidance on delivering careers advice in at all tiers of the educational system. Here we’ll explores the importance of these changes, what we have learned as an employer, and what this means for youth employment.

What changes have been made?

Early in September 2022, amendments were made to the existing careers advice guidance. The previous guidelines in Section 42A of the Education Act 1997, required maintained schools, special schools, and pupil referral units in England to provide independent careers guidance to pupils only in school years 8 to 13.

But this has now been extended to include pupils in year 7 and incorporates the need for academies to also comply.

In addition to widening the age bracket, there is also a duty on schools to ensure they provide students with access to a range of providers who can discuss technical education and apprenticeships.

The Department for Education is also encouraging schools to consider using more digital resources and online communications to deliver virtual careers experiences if activities cannot be delivered in person.

What we have learned so far

Youth unemployment is steadily falling. 372,000 young people aged 16-24 were registered as unemployed in June-August 2022, that’s 62,000 less than the previous quarter and down 122,000 from the same quarter in 2021, according to the House of Commons Library. Therefore, we are now witnessing the lowest level of youth unemployment since records began in 1992. While these statistics provide a positive trajectory, there are still hundreds of thousands of young people unemployed, highlighting the important role that young people have to play in the recovery of our economy.

We’re still however seeing many organisations reluctant to take on school leavers, with some expressing that students lack confidence when making their transition into the workplace. This is something that the government has been actively trying to tackle over the past few years, especially with the introduction of T-Levels which aim to bridge the gap between school and employment. These qualifications were created in collaboration with various employers and industry experts to ensure the content meets the needs of the sector, and if we are to continue to bridge this gap, further collaboration with employers is essential.

How important really is collaboration between schools and employers?

Young people’s readiness for the world of work isn’t just the responsibility of schools, but also that of employers – both play a key role in helping students understand the options available to them when they leave full-time education. From personal experience backing up academic studies that students up to Year 11 often don’t understand the different options available – with many not looking beyond college, which is reflected in only four percent of school leavers taking on an apprenticeship.

Historically, the typical career path was to study GCSEs, followed by A-Levels, move straight into university to complete an undergraduate degree, before finding an entry-level job in your chosen career and then working your way up the ladder. Over the past decade this has seen steady changed.

With young people now legally bound to stay in education until they are 18, we have seen the resurgence of apprenticeship schemes. Where traditionally, apprenticeships were only found within trade or practical industries, these are now available across a very diverse range of sectors, opening students up to more possibilities and future career paths, beyond university.

Schools should really be educating young people on the benefits of apprenticeships, and employers should also ensure their apprenticeship schemes are accessible, competitive, and visible to them. As previously mentioned again, only four percent of school leavers are embarking on this career path, so it should be made more of a priority in schools to educate students in this pathway. This combined with the recent statutory change, should help to increase the number of school leavers now choosing an apprenticeship and it will be interesting to see how these figures will rise in the coming years.

In addition, careers advice being extended to include year 7 students means that from an earlier age, young people can hopefully be better equipped with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their future.

Implementing quality career guidance in a changed post-Covid world

I understand the difficulty that many schools face in engaging employers in the very changed post-covid world, where hybrid working means that being present in a workplace can be tricky. Therefore, schools need to be open to virtual and online careers programmes where students will be able to engage with a more hybrid world.

The still lasting impact of Covid-19 on the labour market has meant that the need for schools to work in partnership with outside organisations – such as employers – and provide better quality careers guidance for all ages, is not only welcomed, but critical to the success of young people and their future careers.