Careers Advice: How to do you go about building a skilled workforce for the future?

OK, I’ll admit it – I had no idea (until a few days ago) how Careers Advice was being dispensed to today’s youngsters. In my time (as an, erm, 40-something-year-old), it was more or less presumed that you would go on to either college, polytechnic (remember those?) or university.

Hence, any careers advice was skewed to what you might want to do post-further education; in other words, what you should study first to get a job after? And don’t even mention apprenticeships….

So, it was interesting to sit next to or Marina Jackson from Bucks Skills Hub at last week’s BLT networking meeting, and find out more about how it all works in schools now.

Let me set all this in context first though; here’s my understanding of the ‘journey’ so far and the main ‘players’ in the Bucks region….

Careers Advice: a brief history

• Careers Advice used to be centrally-funded by the government (‘Connexions’ provided this nationally).
• This changed in 2006 following the devolvement of the Connexions budget to the local authorities [see Adviza below].
• In 2012, schools became responsible for providing Careers Advice, with the option of buying in from external sources as well as utilising the newly-launched National Careers Service: https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk
• This new system has been widely criticised (by OFSTED amongst others), with plans for a comprehensive Careers Strategy unveiled in 2015 (although as of June 2017 this strategy has still yet to be published!)

Bucks TVLEP http://www.buckstvlep.co.uk/interesting-stuff/bucks-skills-hub

• The Buckinghamshire Skills Hub is based at Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership ‘BTVLEP’, and is aimed at helping young people become ‘work-ready’ whilst ensuring they are informed about career choices.
• Also part of the family is Buckinghamshire Business First – this is aimed at helping local businesses grow, by providing the right business advice as well as acting as a conduit for any centrally-funded grants.
• The Buckinghamshire Skills Hub works with Buckinghamshire Business First to encourage greater employer involvement in skills development, careers inspiration and work experience for youngsters.
• [Note that the Buckinghamshire Skills Hub does not deliver a Careers Advice Service].

Adviza http://www.connexionsbucks.org.uk

Adviza was created in 2012 as a rebrand of Connexions:

• Originally established in 2001 as Connexions Berkshire, delivering Careers Guidance as part of a National Connexions Service under direct contract from central government.
• However, changes in government funding shifted the responsibility of Careers Advice from Connexions over to that funded by local authorities.
• In 2011, Connexions became part of reachfor, a joint venture of regional social enterprises delivering services to young people and adults.
• Since October 2014, Adviza has been the Prime Contractor for the National Careers Service in the Thames Valley Region.
• Schools are therefore now responsible for providing their own Careers Advice; some schools still purchase services from Adviza/Connexions
• [Note: Connexions happens to be an established brand in Buckinghamshire and, as such, Adviza continue to use it in schools in this county].

My conclusion – Look after the vulnerable, let the ‘strong’ look after themselves

Being curious, I had a quick look on the Bucks Council website for ‘Schools’.

I couldn’t find a single mention about Careers Advice. Yes,  there is ‘Education Support’ for those who have been excluded from school (temporarily or permanent), yes there is support for SEND students (special education needs and disabilities), yes there is even a specific section on ‘School Crossing Patrollers’ (Lollipopmen/women to my generation!), but nothing on Careers Advice at a Council level….not even a link as to where to go to for advice.

Intrigued, I trawled a bit deeper, armed with my new-found knowledge that Connexions is the ‘go-to’ place where schools can purchase Careers Advice and came across the following answer to an education-based question during a Bucks Council Meeting in April 2016:

“The Connexions contract changed on 01 April 2016 due to a budget reduction.

In collaboration with Connexions, the contract has been refocussed to concentrate on the critical statutory elements; Tracking of the Cohort and DfE Data Returns, Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Support and contribution to the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) process, Careers Guidance to Pupil Referral Unit (PRU), Youth Offending Service (YOS), Care Leavers and preventative work with those who are at risk of NEET, Contribution to the Buckinghamshire Youth initiative to improve outcomes for Young People including those who are NEET and delivery of elements of the BCC Wellbeing Programme.”

Let me try to paraphrase all of the above in plain English as I see it – ‘ordinary, normal students’ do not appear to be a priority for centrally-funded Careers Advice these days.

Schools can still purchase one-to-one Careers Advice Support from Connexions (and many still do), but it remains the responsibility of the individual school. So if a particular school is not pro-active then….well, I think you can figure it out for yourself now!

So, I guess as business owners, does this mean we have to become more pro-active as governments become less so….?

To be continued