Many academies and free schools are subject to the duties relating to career guidance through their funding agreements, including those which opened from September 2012 onwards and those which have moved to an updated funding agreement. Academies without the requirement are encouraged to follow the guidance as a statement of good practice.
All further education (FE) colleges and sixth form colleges have been required to secure access to independent careers guidance from September 2013. This requirement is part of FE college and sixth form college funding agreements. The Department for Education has published guidance for FE and sixth form colleges to draw on in fulfilling this duty.
The quality of careers advice has come in for frequent criticism, and recent governments have made several reforms, including the establishment of the National Careers Service and the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC), aimed at improving the quality and range of careers advice on offer. Higher education institutions are not required to provide career advice, but nonetheless this service is offered across institutions.
DfE Careers Strategy
The Department for Education’s Careers Strategy was published in December 2017. It set out a series of measures to be implemented during 2018-20 to improve careers guidance in England, including new benchmarks for careers education, an investment fund for disadvantaged pupils, and a named Careers Leader in every school and college.
