Latest Sector News

Damaging budget cuts across education and to the Connexions careers service has left careers guidance in extreme uncertainty, without any funding or support at a time when it is perhaps needed more than ever. In the face of this a collection of careers advisers and private organisations have joined together through social networks and grass roots initiatives to offer hope to the profession and provision of careers education in the UK.

Later this year National Careers Week 2012 will offer careers professionals the chance to focus their efforts in providing urgent guidance to a "forgotten" generation of young people and raise awareness of the importance of careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG).

John Hayes, Minister for Skills, Further Education and Lifelong Learning, outlined Government plans for the introduction of the new National Careers Service for England at the annual conference of the Institute of Career Guidance today (3 November). After stressing the vital importance of independent and impartial advice and guidance, he called on the profession to work with the Government to develop a new model for the delivery of careers services to replace Connexions.

This initiative is a response to a 2010 Deloitte report 'Helping young people succeed: How employers can support careers education'. It is a free service which will see tens of thousands of people from all sectors and professions going into state schools and colleges to talk about their jobs and careers, and the education routes they took.

Steve Higginbotham, ICG President has now written back to Ruth Spellman, Chair of the UK Careers Profession Alliance, to advise of the ICG position in relation to the key questions that were posed by the CPA Executive to its member organisations. You will recall that the ICG has carried out an extensive programme of member consultation, including an online member survey; reports from regional representatives, committee chairs, the board directors and feedback from other membership sources eg a LinkedIn Community of Interest group.

UK Careers Sector Strategic Forum releases their submissiomn to the Milburn Review, "High-quality Career Guidance for Enhancing Social Mobility: a submission to the Milburn Review of Social Mobility and Child Poverty"

The background to these developments is that a new suite of Career Development National Occupational Standards (NOS) has been approved by UKCES, following extensive consultation. These NOS cover career and educational information, advice and guidance and employability support. They were developed in response to a clear need identified by employers across the UK for sector specific Standards relating to the context of career/learning and work. They replace the Advice & Guidance NOS.

Plans to make schools responsible for guidance to under-19s risk jeopardising their future and deepening deprivation, say experts

The Advisory Group on the All-Age Careers Service established by the Government has been reconstituted as the National Careers Service Advisory Group. After some discussion at a pre-meeting of the Group where resignation was considered, the lay members present agreed to continue to support this work. But they wish to place their concern in the public domain about the significant reduction in the Group's remit and in the scope of the new service.

Good morning everyone and thank you for inviting me.

I'm glad to be here for many reasons. Not the least of them is the fact that I think careers education and guidance in schools has had a rough deal for longer than most of us would care to remember. And I want to assure you in person of my commitment to playing my part in putting that right.

The esteem, or lack of it, in which careers teachers have sometimes been held is in inverse proportion to their influence over young people's lives and prospects. Many teachers have viewed being handed the careers brief as drawing the short straw in the curriculum lottery.

But you know better. And so do I.

Back in June we reported that The Careers and Employability Service at the University of Huddersfield had been short-listed for an award at the Times Higher Education's annual Leadership and Management Awards. This week we are pleased to report that they won in the category of ICT Initiative of the Year!