Recommendation 38

HM Government Acknowledged

117. We agree with the Committee that we need to ensure the careers system is effective in supporting people from all backgrounds. That is why the Secretary of State has appointed Professor Sir John Holman as Independent Strategic Adviser on Careers Guidance. Sir John is developing recommendations on how to deliver closer alignment between the Department for Education’s two main careers delivery partners, The Careers & Enterprise Company and the National Careers Service, as well as with wider government careers and employment services such as Job Centre Plus. We expect these recommendations to be presented to the Secretary of State in the summer of 2022. 118. Our aim is to create a clear, all-age careers system which supports everyone to reach their full potential. This is more important than ever as the economic downturn brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic is disproportionately affecting opportunities for young people and we need to support them to get ahead in their careers and achieve their full potential. We have already committed to a full review of the careers delivery system in the longer term, as set out in the Skills for Jobs White Paper. We plan to undertake the review following the roll out of Careers Hubs, the Enterprise Adviser Network and Careers Leader training to all secondary schools and colleges in England. We also expect Sir John Holman’s recommendations to inform the review. 119. The Committee's suggestion to tie Government funded careers support to compliance with the Baker Clause was already announced in the Skills for Jobs White Paper, as part of a Baker Clause three-point-plan that will: • Create clear minimum legal requirements; • Take tougher formal action to enforce compliance; • Make Government investment in careers conditional on Baker Clause compliance. 120. The Department will set out more details soon on the legislative changes. We intend to establish a new minimum legal requirement about who is to be given access to which pupils and when. 121. It is important that schools comply with the Baker Clause and are held to account for this through Ofsted’s inspections. Ofsted’s updated school inspection handbook for September 2021 sets out strengthened expectations with respect to careers information, education, advice and guidance (CIEAG), and specifically the Baker Clause. It makes clear that if a school is not meeting the requirements of the Baker Clause, inspectors will state this in the published inspection report, and that they will consider what impact this has on the quality of CIEAG and the subsequent judgement for personal development. 122. Under Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework, which took effect from September 2019, in order to achieve an outstanding judgement, inspectors have to be assured that each of the criteria for a good judgement are met. As such the quality of CIEAG may have a limiting effect on a school attaining an outstanding grade. When considering whether a school is good however, inspectors are expected to apply a ‘best fit’ approach - using their professional judgement to weigh up the evidence on a school’s performance across the range of inspection indicators for good. Inspectors will consider carefully how the quality of CEIAG and compliance with the Baker Clause affects the overall assessment for the ‘personal development’ judgement when awarding a good grade, but this specific matter will not, in an automatic way, mean a school will be judged to require improvement. 123. We are committed to providing all disadvantaged students, including White working-class disadvantaged students, with the careers support they need. The Careers & Enterprise Company has a Community of Practice for Inclusion which supports disadvantaged young people in schools, colleges and alternative provision by sharing good practice, providing training for teachers and Special Educational Needs Coordinators and resources to be used by schools working to support disadvantaged young people to plan their careers.