High quality careers information and guidance is the key to young people's success
The world is changing fast and the global economy is expected to double in size by 2030; creating up to a billion new jobs in high-skill industries, shaped by faster technology and communications, low carbon industries and greater resource efficiency. Markets and industries which have not yet been imagined will emerge.
Young people need high quality information, advice and guidance (IAG) to help them find their way in the world and make decisions that will set them on the path to success.
Good information should be the bedrock of any decision. The Education and Skills Act 2008 requires schools, in the delivery of their statutory requirement to provide careers education, to ensure that information about learning options and careers is presented impartially and that advice promotes the best interests of pupils. The Quality, Choice and Aspiration (DCSF 2009) strategy paper reinforces this requirement; additionally, it proposes significant improvements to the information available to parents on learning and work opportunities for young people; as well as new provision and improved resources to meet parents’ needs.
Good careers information is:
- accurate
- comprehensive
- relevant
- up-to-date
- impartial (e.g. independent of the vested interests of the person/organisation providing the information)
- accessible – available in the most appropriate format. i.e. in print, ICT-based and other forms
- from authoritative and reliable sources
- challenges stereotypes