Annual Career Plans: Too good an idea to drop?

1. Annual Career Plans: Too good an idea to drop? Claire Nix and Anthony Barnes claire.m.nix@gmail.comanthony.barnes@ntlworld.com

3. A Cloudy Horizon: Careers Services in EnglandCareers 2020 Phase Two (Pearson, September 2013)

4. Annual career plans

5. Policy context • No real discussion of whether ‘independent and impartial’ is what is really required • No convincing defence of the decision to remove the statutory requirement for careers and work-related education • The campaign for face-to-face careers guidance inhibits new thinking about non-standardised and online forms of guidance • The wider policy on school autonomy, low prescription and a laissez-faire approach to the education market is inhibiting the development of new 'structures' to support careers guidance • Professional careers advisers have reduced status – they are only one part of the broader network of local stakeholders who are involved in and can support careers advice; • Uncritical belief that all employers are able to inspire, motivate and engage young people (without regard for the quality of the information and advice they give) • False expectation that Ofsted inspections will be the big game changer in terms of school performance on CEIAG • Claim that budgets are sufficient and spending more money isn’t the answer

6. Customer and stakeholder views - CIPD Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development • It is clear there are issues around the lack of consistency of good advice and guidance about career choice for pupils, in particular about alternatives to university education such as apprenticeships. This needs to improve if we want more young people to have access to the labour market. (The Business Case For Employer Investment in Young People).

7. Confederation of British Industry • CBI – John Cridland • “We know careers advice is on life support in many areas, as schools struggle with the new statutory duty. It’s right that schools should have the freedom to run their own affairs – but the Government may have adopted too laissez faire an approach with serious consequences for our young people. Businesses need to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in but there needs to be much more impetus from Whitehall. Careers must be a priority not a bolt-on afterthought or optional extra.”

8. Parents • Only 40% thought that the school had helped their child make informed decisions about their post-16 options • They thought that one-to-one interviews and work experience were the most useful careers guidance activities. • The Pearson report “A Cloudy Horizon” recommended greater parental engagement with careers work.

9. Young people In the Ofsted survey young people said they wanted: • More purposeful work experience and opportunities to find out about careers from employers • Better links between subject and careers • Better guidance on using websites They liked: • Individual interviews with a professional adviser • A system for recording their ideas and research • A programme of visits – not just one-off visits • A well-stocked careers library • Careers guidance as part of the curriculum.

10. TheQuality in Careers Standard • Investor in Careers • Career Mark • Recognition of Quality Award (RoQA) • The Quality Award in CEIAG • C & K Quality Careers Standard • Inspiring IAG • Career Connect Quality Award for CEIAG • Investing in Quality • NE Lincs Gold Standard for CEIAG • The Quality CEIAG Award • The Sheffield Standard in CEIAG • The Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent CEIAG Quality Mark

12. Ofsted Going in the Right Direction? (September 2013) • Provision was effective in only one in five schools (n=60). Very few had the skills and expertise required • Only about a quarter using their destinations data • Few schools had bought in adequate services from external sources • Half were using own staff (untrained and not up-to-date) to inform students about careers • Schools not engaging employers or promoting vocational training and apprenticeships well enough (two-thirds had cut down KS4 work experience) • Aspirations for many vulnerable students were too low • The promotion of post-16 options available from other providers was particularly weak in many 11 to 18 schools

13. Ofsted(Section 5 school Inspections from September 2013) Inspectors must evaluate how well leaders and managers ensure that the curriculum “provides timely independent information, advice and guidance to assist pupils on their next steps in training, education or employment.” (Para 135, p.46). The subsidiary guidance for inspectors states that: • Inspectors will want to discuss with pupils their knowledge of courses and qualifications and the various progression routes available to them in order to understand the quality of advice provide by the school • The extent to which timely information, advice and guidance provide pupils with a good understanding of the full range of options available to assist them to make informed decisions about their next steps in education, training or employment; the availability and quality of advice and guidance on learning and a pathways; and whether staff have the necessary qualifications, experience and skills to provide information, advice and guidance. (Para 91, p.22) Handbook http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/school-inspection-handbook Subsidiary guidance http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/subsidiary-guidance-supporting-inspection-of-maintained-schools-and-academies

14. Ofsted: additional references Subsidiary Guidance supporting the inspection of maintained schools and academies • P. 41 Para 13 Inspectors should take into account retention rates when evaluating achievement and when considering the quality of the curriculum and IAG. • P.26 Para 107 Inspectors will want to discuss with pupils their knowledge of courses and qualifications and progression routes. School Inspection Handbook • P. 113 Para 27 Evidence of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development .. gain a well-informed understanding of the options and challenges facing them as they move through the school and onto the next stage of their education and training. Grade Descriptors • Overall Effectiveness – Outstanding schools – pupils are well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employments… and hold highest aspirations for pupils. • Achievement of Pupils – exceptionally well prepared for the next stage in education, training or employment. • p.46 how well leaders and managers ensure the curriculum ‘provides timely and independent IAG to assist pupils on their next step in training, education or employment. • p.47 how well strategies and procedures, including provision of appropriate guidance help pupils to prepared for life in modern democratic Britain.

15. Improving school performance Annual Career Plan CEIAG Quality Award Destination measures Ofsted inspection

16. Annual Career Plans

17. Annual Careers Plans - Finland • The Ministry of Education and Culture stipulates that the curriculum should include 76 hours of careers education activities in grades 7-9. Guidelines exist to help schools develop careers and work-related education across the whole curriculum. • A parliamentary committee has recommended a student-counsellor ratio of 250:1. The entitlement to individual guidance and group counselling in grades 1-6 is embedded in the work of the classroom teachers. • Online tools are being piloted to collect evaluation data from students, parents and staff that will provide a national reference point.

18. Annual Careers Plans: Rationale and purpose • Improves budgeting process • Provides a focus for monitoring, review and evaluation • Can be linked to the agreement with the external careers guidance provider • Can be tied to the school improvement plan • Can be used to feedback to governors • Improves transparency for customers and stakeholders • Can be integrated with other processes, e.g. decdiing on how to use Pupil Premium

19. Suggested structure of an Annual Careers Plan (5 Ps) • Priorities • Review of previous year • Present priorities • Programme • Calendar of main activities and events in the year • Provision • Careers guidance and planning • Careers education • Careers and work-related learning • Careers information • Partnerships • CG provider, EB links, other learning providers • Performance • Quality and evaluation plans

20. Annual Career Plans: Suggested themes from NFER think-piece How the school is: • working with local partners to coordinate provision and inform young people and parents; • engaging with employers; • taking into account the views of young people and their parents; • supporting teachers to embed careers information into lessons and subjects; • providing careers education and guidance from Year 7. Young people should be supported to learn about their strengths, weaknesses, how to develop realistic careers aspirations and decision-making skills as well as being provided with information about career pathways; • actively encouraging young people to consider all options at 14 and 16 so that they select the best options for their interest, motivation, learning style, ability and aspirations; • allocating resources to the provision of careers guidance; • providing all young people with face-to-face, impartial and independent careers guidance; • working towards quality awards nationally validated by the Quality in Careers Standards; • utilising advisers trained and qualified in delivering careers education and guidance; • using online technology where possible for the collection, interactive analysis and reporting of careers data to reduce ‘bureaucracy’ and enable schools to carry out analysis instantly.

21. Careers guidance: If not an annual career plan then what? (NFER, September 2013) http://www.nfer.ac.uk/nfer/publications/99938/99938_home.cfm?publicationID=1019&title=Careers%20guidance:%20If%20not%20an%20annual%20careers%20plan%20-%20then%20what?

22. Suggested process Careers lead team mandated by SLT to: • complete annual health check • identify priorities after taking into account views of the school, customers, stakeholders and external providers • draw up programme • negotiate provision and partnership arrangements • monitor implementation/performance

23. Health check: Suggested approach from the Netherlands http://www.lob-vo.nl/landelijke-resultaten

24. Suggested themes for health check • Meeting statutory duties (e.g. careers guidance duty, equality duty) • Credibility of careers guidance provision with students • Credibility of careers guidance provision with parents/carers • Access to careers guidance for all students • Sufficiency and timing of careers guidance inputs • Access to careers and labour market information • Access to careers and work-related education for all students • Sufficiency and timing of careers and work-related education inputs • Access to careers and labour market information • Complementarity of internal and external careers guidance inputs • Staff learning and development • Quality assurance • Performance on progression and destinations

25. Mapping of themes to structure of Plan

26. Health check self-assessment

27. Programme: Careers calendar

28. Provision • Careers guidance and planning, e.g. When? How much? For whom? How organised? Provided by? • Careers education, e.g. Which cohorts? How many hours? What’s in the scheme of work? Delivered by? • Careers and work-related learning, e.g. Who participates? When? Which employers/education providers? What types of activity? • Careers information, e.g. How accessed? How much spent? What staff support? Where (LRC and online)?

29. Time that schools allocate to careers and the world of work (CWoW) in Wales • (n=113) • Whilst the average time allocated to this programme in Year 7 is 2.5 hours, 30% of schools allocated no time to CWoW, yet several schools allocated over 20 hours. Similarly in Year 11, 30% said they allocated no time to CWoW, whilst several schools allocated 30 hours or more.

30. Partnerships • External careers guidance provider • Education-business links provider • Employers • Other education and training providers • Community and voluntary organisations

31. Where next? • Schools do it anyway. If you want to do these things properly, none of this is too much to ask. • Career Development Institute works with strategic partners (teaching unions, employers, etc.) to develop the approach • National Careers Service supports schools by developing guidelines, collating national data • DfE requires schools to put this information on their websites