Select committee: Education Committee
Conclusion 13
Fourth Report - Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance
Published 29 Jun 2023
Paragraph 53
Addressed to Department for Education
Education Committee Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Department’s expenditure on CEIAG provision is around £5,000 per school— falling far short of the estimated £38,000 to £76,000 needed to achieve the Gatsby benchmarks. The expectation on schools and colleges to pay for CEIAG out of their already stretched budgets is causing significant disparities in provision, and we have heard that schools are only spending £2 per pupil on careers. This has led to gaps in support for certain activities, in particular access to independent careers advisers and for schools to achieve the Quality in Careers Standard.
From: Education Committee, Fourth Report - Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (HC 54), paragraph 53, 29 June 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 21 September 2023 (deadline 29 August 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it welcomes the report and "accept[s] fully or in part the majority of the Committee's recommendations", and says that where it does not fully accept one, it has an alternative existing or planned approach.
- On a new strategy, it agrees there is "a strong case" and intends to publish a Strategic Action Plan for Careers in 2024, setting clear measurable outcomes and dates.
- It does not accept additional numerical Gatsby Benchmark targets, saying they risk "encouraging a tick-box approach".
- It is "not persuaded" that it should suggest a proportion of time for Careers Leaders, and "does not agree" with ringfencing funding for careers advisers, saying schools and colleges are best placed to decide their own arrangements.
- It agrees to update the careers statutory guidance in spring 2024 to set an expectation that schools and colleges self-report against the Gatsby Benchmarks annually, while avoiding mandating Compass.