State school teachers lack funding for careers guidance, says charity

Just under a third of teachers in state schools say they do not have enough funding to deliver quality careers guidance to their pupils, compared with 6% of private school teachers, a new report shows.

The paper from social mobility charity, the Sutton Trust, found that 32% of state school teachers said they lacked funds to deliver good quality careers provision, with over half – 51% – saying that they did not have enough time to advise pupils on careers.

The report also finds that more than a third of secondary school pupils – 36% – do not feel confident about the next steps they should take in education or training.

Nearly four in ten – 38% – of state school pupils said this compared with 23% of private school pupils.

Schools in poorer areas were less likely to have a specialist careers adviser compared with those in more affluent neighbourhoods, the study found.

The paper recommends that the Government develops a new national strategy for careers education, formed in partnership with employers and linked with the levelling up agenda.

Schools should have a leader on careers and a professional careers adviser on hand for pupils, as there is “too much variation” in the advice available to pupils across the country, the paper says.

It adds that schools need more funding to set up work experience placements for pupils aged 14 to 16.

While the paper showed there had been improvement in careers guidance since the Sutton Trust’s previous analysis of the issue in 2014, which revealed pupils faced a “postcode lottery” when it came to the careers support they had on offer, it revealed stark differences in the advice given for academic and technical routes.

While 46% of 17 and 18-year olds said they had received a “large amount” of information on university routes during their education, compared to 10% of pupils who said they had received this for apprenticeships.

The paper also revealed the impact of the pandemic on careers guidance. More than seven in 10 teachers – 72% – said that the pandemic had negatively impacted their school’s capacity to deliver careers education, with state school teachers more likely to report this than those working in private schools.

James Turner, ehief executive of the Sutton Trust, said: “All young people – whatever school they go to and wherever they live in the country – must have access to high quality support to help them in their journeys through education and work.

“As the Government looks to make further changes to the qualifications and funding landscape, it is more important than ever that young people have the information, advice and guidance that they need to feel confident in their next steps.

“The Government must urgently develop a new national strategy on careers education and all schools, especially those serving the poorest communities, should be supported to offer the highest-quality provision”.

Sarah Hannafin, senior policy adviser for school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Good quality careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) is important to all pupils in our schools. We have continually stressed that CEIAG should be appropriately resourced and of a high standard in order to support pupils to make the best choices and maximise their life chances.

“Despite support for careers education from school leaders, the current provision remains underfunded and therefore inconsistent. There is no specific funding for schools, nor any budget with which to provide impartial and independent CEIAG or work experience.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The main reason that there is variation in careers advice is that the Government dismantled the national provision about a decade ago and transferred the responsibility to schools while also squeezing their funding. Since then it has endeavoured to make up for lost ground with only partial success.”

He added: “Regarding the recommendation that all pupils have access to work experience between the ages of 14 and 16, identifying and sourcing work experience placements for 17 and 18-year-olds can be very challenging, let alone for 14 to 16-year-olds.”

“While the principle is a good one, it is difficult to see how this would work in reality. Indeed, one of the main difficulties in delivering the Government’s new T-level qualifications at scale is how to source the extensive industry placements which form part of these courses.”