CEG in England

1. CEG in England • Career guidance straddles Education and Employment policies • Within policy, career guidance can sit in Social Services (Welfare) or Economy • Statutory provision in England relates to young people

2. A fretwork of polarities • National yet Local • Universal yet Targeted • Growth yet Efficiency • Change yet Stability • Remote yet Individual • Targets yet Personalisation

3. Careers education in England • Statutory provision via LEAs • Technical Vocational Education Initiative • Extra resources for careers information and libraries (1990s) • Strengthened but outside National Curriculum • Further Education: costed and rewarded • Higher Education: each university is autonomous • Graduate Prospects: distance and online

4. 1973 Statutory for Youth 1980s Youth unemployment 1990s Quasi Privatisation Re focussing – emergence of NEET New Labour and Social Inclusion Career Guidance: Youth

5. Career Guidance: Adult • Manpower Services & Occupational Guidance units (1970s) • Training Enterprise Councils (1980s) • Vouchers for career guidance • European Social Fund, Single Regeneration Budget. • 2001 Learning & Skills Councils replace TECs • 2002 Jobcentre Plus – benefits and employment • Learndirect: UfI – info, advice and guidance

6. YOUTH PROVISION Connexions Partnerships deliver services including career guidance for youth 16-19 under national brand name: Connexions Universal service with targeted support ADULT PROVISION Information Advice & Guidance Partnerships deliver career guidance for adults. National brand introduced in 2005: nextsteps Targeted support by qualification level From 2001 until 2005:

7. Connexions: a joined-up service Social inclusion agenda drives policy Recognition of the NEET group Horizontal integration of interventions, limited to specific age A universal service, with targeted support Career guidance subsumed – more swallowed up than joined up

8. Policy context • Every Child Matters (2003) • Skills White Paper (2005) • End to end review (2005) • Youth Green Paper (2005) • Realising the Potential FE (2005) • Women & Work Commission (2006) • Youth Matters: Next Steps (2006)

9. End to end review (2005) • ‘Insufficient priority is given to CEG in many Connexions Partnerships, schools colleges, and work-based learning providers, in Ofsted inspections and in policy making’ • ‘the significant flaws in the current arrangements…mean that they are not sustainable’

10. Youth Matters: Next Steps proposes • new funding arrangements via Childrens’ Trusts, schools and colleges; • clear minimum expectations for the IAG young people should receive; • a new set of quality standards, and • easy access to an innovative service using ICT

11. Challenges Childrens’ Trusts to: • Ensure young people have things to do and places to go; • Encourage and support volunteering by young people; • Ensure those in particularly difficult get what they are entitled to and • Ensure young people can access high quality information, advice and guidance.

12. Youth Matters: Next Steps • Recognises youth satisfaction with Connexions • Recognises strong brand but considers redefinition • Wants to reduce NEET numbers further • Will ease transition pre to post 16 education • Talks of reform of advice and guidance, including integration with other services • Refers to ‘guidance professionals’

13. Policy possibilities • Develop an all age strategy for CEG, which moves from education towards economy; • Recognise the need for labour market intelligence,which makes sense of labour market information and challenges misconceptions; • Recognise that effective career guidance must be holistic, but must draw on a specialist knowledge base.