Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Accepted
Paragraph: 16
Ensure Ofsted upholds strong focus on CEIAG provision and Gatsby benchmarks in inspections
Conclusion
High-quality CEIAG provision is an essential part of pupils’ personal development and should be a core part of the Ofsted framework. The Department must ensure that Ofsted is upholding a strong focus on CEIAG provision when inspecting schools, in particular looking at schools’ achievement of the Gatsby benchmarks.
Government Response Summary
The government fully accepts the recommendation, stating that the school inspection handbook was updated in 2021 to ensure Ofsted judges careers provision, including Gatsby Benchmarks, as part of personal development.
Paragraph Reference:
16
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government fully accepts this recommendation. We recognise the vital role that Ofsted plays in ensuring that schools are providing high-quality careers provision. The school inspection handbook was updated in 2021 to ensure that inspectors judge the quality of careers provision through the personal development judgement, where they consider whether the school provides an effective careers programme in line with the government’s statutory guidance. The guidance states that schools should use the Gatsby Benchmarks as a framework for good career guidance. Where a school is not meeting the requirements of the provider access legislation (sometimes known as the Baker Clause), inspectors will state this in the inspection report and take it into account when arriving at a judgement about personal development. Ofsted’s thematic review, due to be published in autumn 2023, has examined careers provision in schools and colleges, including the implementation of the strengthened provider access legislation.