Select committee: Education Committee
Conclusion 30
Fourth Report - Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance
Published 29 Jun 2023
Paragraph 113
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)
Simply informing pupils of the options available is not enough to tackle the fundamental bias towards academic routes still seen in many schools. As long as 52 Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance schools are incentivised to steer pupils towards academic paths and to celebrate university admissions over apprenticeship or work outcomes, this problem is likely to remain.
From: Education Committee, Fourth Report - Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (HC 54), paragraph 113, 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.