As young people consider their futures, they can thrive if given the right tools. Gatsby has long believed that inadequate careers education, information, advice and guidance was a key barrier to young people embarking on careers within the STEM subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths.
With this in mind, John Holman – esteemed academic and future President of the Royal Society of Chemistry – was asked by Gatsby in 2010 to review the quality of STEM career guidance. His work showed that challenges across the whole system needed to be tackled if STEM career guidance was to improve.
The resulting 2014 report set out the Gatsby Benchmarks for Good Career Guidance. These eight Benchmarks, ranging from workplace experience to higher education encounters, have since been written into government policy, transforming career guidance in every state secondary school and college in England.
The Gatsby Benchmarks were originally piloted in secondary schools and colleges across the northeast of England. A longitudinal evaluation by the University of Derby found the pilot had significant impact in schools and college – reflected not just in the number of Benchmarks achieved but also on students’ career readiness and GCSE results.
The Careers and Enterprise Company were recently able to publish an analysis of progress in careers education in schools and colleges over the last five years. The number of schools and colleges reaching the Gatsby Benchmarks has doubled, with the average number of Benchmarks achieved rising from 2.1 to 5.5 (out of eight).
96% of young people in secondary education had at least one employer encounter last year, and young people are twice as likely to report awareness of apprenticeships by the time they take their GCSEs. The highest quality careers provision is shown to reduce the likelihood of young people being NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) by 8%. Additionally, 91% of the most engaged employers say it is helping them develop their talent pipelines.
The framework and infrastructure in England are now seen as world-class, with many countries looking to the Benchmarks to shape their own national policies. However, Gatsby knows there is always scope for evolution. It has undertaken a programme of research, open consultation, and stakeholder engagement to assess what refinement might be needed to ensure that the impact of the Gatsby Benchmarks continues for the next decade.
Gatsby continues to fund activity that drives improvements in career guidance. The impacts are wide, benefitting institutions, education providers, employers, parents and, importantly, the young people who are being provided with the right tools to find their most fulfilling career.
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