Schools should adopt a 'whole school' approach to careers related information, advice and guidance (IAG) for young people. This requires a commitment from all teachers to raise young people’s awareness of IAG and how it can help them. IAG should be part of the school ethos and permeate not only the curriculum but also extra-curricular activities and engagement with the wider community.
All your students are entitled to impartial information and advice about their learning and work pathways. Your school is required to provide access to careers services, materials providing careers guidance and a wide range of up-to-date reference materials. This is most important at the critical transition points of 14, 16 and 17/18 – when young people have to make decisions which affect their future learning and careers. These transition points are illustrated in the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) 14–19 qualifications map (PDF, 33 KB).
Recent reforms to 14–19 education offer more choice and progression opportunities to young people, to support them to stay on in education or training post-16. To make informed decisions about these opportunities, students require up to date, impartial and accurate IAG. IAG in schools is becoming increasingly important. In order to make informed decisions on the range of pathways available to them students require up to date, impartial and accurate IAG. The Department for Children, Schools and Families provides further information on the 14-19 entitlement, while the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency provides further information on the four main learning routes.
As a teacher you’ll want to know what careers education and IAG cover and what they mean for you. You may also want to know how to help students to research career information and plan for progression into further and higher forms of learning.
Your school offers a range of IAG services, including targeted and specialist services for some young people. There will be planned changes to some of these services as a result of curriculum reform.
IAG mainly impacts on the curriculum through careers education, which is often delivered via personal, social, health and economic education (PSHEe). You can consider introducing elements of IAG into subject teaching so that young people understand career routes and progression available to them from a particular subject.
Use the links below to find out what you need to know about careers related information and guidance for young people. Links to useful further information on IAG are on the right-hand side of this page, and a more general resource guide covering wider aspects of 14–19 pathways is also available.
Resources
Which way now? and It’s your choice are interactive web resources from the DCSF which give a step by step guide to choosing options, targeted at year 9 and 11 respectively.
The DCSF publication The Diploma: bringing learning to life (PDF, 1.06 MB) informs young people about the diploma in year 10 and year 12.
The White Paper, Your Child, Your Schools, Our Future: building a 21st century schools system sets out the Government’s programme of reform for the schools system.
