An all-age careers service for
England
Gerard McAlea
Quality, Support and Guidance Division
Department for Education
An all-age careers service: policy
context
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John Hayes – Ministerial responsibility
Coalition Government
Schools White Paper
Drive for social mobility
Changing economic circumstances
Vision for young people
Spending Review
‘Coalition values’
“We share a conviction that the days of big government are over; that
centralisation and top-down control have proved a failure. We believe that the
time has come to disperse power more widely in Britain today; to recognise
that we will only make progress if we help people to come together to make
life better. In short, it is our ambition to distribute power and opportunity to
people rather than hoarding authority within government. That way, we can build
the free, fair and responsible society we want to see.”
HM Government
The Coalition: our Programme for Government, May 2010, page 7, para 2
New ways of working
 Replacing bureaucratic accountability with
democratic mechanisms;
 Building people’s capability;
 Transparency and openness;
 Giving power away;
 Enabling innovative institutions;
 Not devising strategies to “even out” local
variation if it’s what people have chosen.
Schools White Paper: some messages
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A world-class education system;
Devolving as much as possible to the frontline;
Freedom for schools to innovate;
Pupil Premium;
“It is only through reforming education that we can allow
every child the chance to take their full and equal share
in citizenship, shaping their own destiny, and becoming
masters of their own fate”;
 “Our schools should be engines of social mobility,
helping children to overcome the accidents of birth and
background to achieve much more than they may ever
have imagined”.
An all-age careers service: policy
context
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Coalition Government
Schools White Paper
Drive for social mobility
Changing economic circumstances
Vocational qualifications/ the “glory of craft”
Vision for young people
Spending Review
An all-age careers service:
principles
 Consistency: seamless support from youth
to adulthood and on to lifelong learning
 High quality: careers guidance as a driver of
economic prosperity and social mobility
 Independence and impartiality
 Professionalism: strengthening the skills of
the careers guidance workforce
An all-age careers service: vision
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from April 2012, interim arrangements from September 2011;
telephone, online and in the community;
intensive support for those with greatest need;
close working with Jobcentre Plus, local authorities and
schools:
• Support in moving the unemployed and low-skilled towards
sustainable employment;
• Support for disadvantaged including NEETs and learners
with learning difficulties/disabilities, where referred by local
authorities;
• Schools work in partnership with careers professionals so
that pupils can access independent, impartial careers
guidance.
 strengthening of the careers profession.
Challenges
 Planning and managing the transition from
existing services;
 Working with stakeholders;
 Involvement of schools, in context of new
freedoms;
 Funding.