Career guidance - pupils to get advise from employers and ambitious careers

"The statutory guidance states a school’s careers and inspiration guidance strategy should:

• offer mentoring and coaching, inspirational speakers, workplace and higher education visits, networking events and careers fairs
• use initiatives that help to forge links between schools and employers, such as Business in the Community, Career Academies and Inspiring the Future
• ensure pupils have information on the full range of education and training options
• measure the effectiveness of their careers and inspiration activity by using official data on the education, training and employment of previous pupils

Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock said:

To be successful in their future careers, young people need inspiration and mentoring as much as advice. This important guidance will encourage schools to help pupils develop high aspirations to realise their potential.

Employers and those themselves in careers they love are best placed to pass on knowledge and enthusiasm to young people. That is why we are encouraging schools to build links with employers to ensure pupils leave school with the skills employers need.

There is now no excuse for schools and colleges not to engage local employers or for employers not to support schools and colleges to help young people in the transition from education to employment.

From Gov.uk

Great to see this sort of emphasis on future career guidance (what is the equivalent in Ireland?). I do find it strange the final bullet point - is there not an awful lot of jobs that didn't exist 10 years ago? I suspect that this trend is only going to continue in future years.

Fantastic to see the emphasis on schools making contact with local businesses. Giving youth an opportunity to try out various careers before having the make bigger decisions after school and choosing a university course or another option can only be a good thing.