Call for evidence: Sub-Committee on Education, Skills and the Economy Inquiry into Careers advice Response from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers 20 January 2016 1. About the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) ATL, the education union, is an independent, registered trade union and professional association, representing approximately 160,000 teachers, head teachers, lecturers and support staff in maintained and independent nurseries, schools, sixth form, tertiary and further education colleges in the United Kingdom. AMiE is the trade union and professional association for leaders and managers in colleges and schools, and is a distinct section of ATL. We recognise the link between education policy and members' conditions of service. ATL exists to help members, as their careers develop, through first rate research, advice, information and legal advice. Our evidence-based policy making enables us to campaign and negotiate locally and nationally. ATL is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress (TUC), European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) and Education International (EI). ATL is not affiliated to any political party and seeks to work constructively with all the main political parties. 2. Summary 2.1. ATL welcomes the House of Commons recognition that there are concerns around the provision of careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) in schools and colleges. It is unfortunate that the timing of the call for written evidence to the Select Committee resulted in the response being developed at the end of the Autumn term, over the Christmas holidays and at beginning of the Spring term, which are all particularly busy times for teachers. 2.2. Good quality CEIAG provision can support social mobility. Conversely however, the social mobility of young people, and particularly those who do not follow the A-level and then university route, is disadvantaged by the lack of adequate CEIAG. Unfortunately however, government policy has resulted in CEIAG continuing to be under-funded and fragmented, with young people not receiving comprehensive information about the wide range of options and opportunities available. Uncertainty in this area has recently been compounded by the Review of Post-16 Education and Training, a policy currently being implemented which is likely to result in considerable changes to local further education provision. 2.3. Gathering and analysing the data required to match skills needs in the local labour market to CEIAG in schools and colleges would be a very complex and expensive endeavour that would require continual updating. This information would not necessarily provide CEIAG which is in the best interests of all young people in the local area. 2.4. Work experience is no longer mandatory and, whilst schools now have a new statutory requirement to provide CEIAG, this is neither funded, nor properly resourced. Employers do not engage sufficiently with schools, for example to
support CEIAG provision, yet complain that school leavers do not have the skills required for the workplace. Apprenticeships are not available in the quantity or quality required. 2.5. To support young people, CEIAG should be properly funded. Employers should engage with schools and colleges and invest in the training and development of their staff. In addition, learners needs and voices must be central to the education and skills policy changes that affect them. 3. The quality and impartiality of current provision 3.1. Unfortunately little, if anything, appears to have changed for the better in terms of the quality and impartiality of careers provision since the Education Committee s report Careers guidance for young people: The impact of the new duty on schools, was published in 2013. According to a survey by E.On, published in September 2015, one in six pupils don t know which subjects to take at GSCE, A Level or university to enhance their future career prospects. In 2014, the Association of Colleges found that only half (49%) of children and young people feel well-informed about what jobs are available'. 1 Of those surveyed by the Association of Colleges, professional careers advisers were only used by only 27%, with significantly more young people relying instead on friends (48%), relatives (42%) or general internet searches (32%) for advice about their future careers. 3.2. The results of the surveys by E.On and the Association of Colleges are supported by ATL s research. At the end of 2014, a survey of ATL members working in secondary schools found that only 5% of teachers believed that the coalition government s policy changes had resulted in improved CEIAG. The reasons our members gave for the decline in CEIAG provision included a lack of expertise in careers guidance, leaving schools struggling to buy in resources which were previously provided for free, for example by Connexions which was axed in 2011. A recent Unison survey showed that 83% of schools do not have trained careers advisors. One of the major challenges reported by the ATL members surveyed was the suitability and effectiveness of the CEIAG provision for a diverse range of people. 3.3. Government policy changes to CEIAG provision in schools has led to criticism from wide-ranging quarters, including Ofsted and the CBI. In 2014, a report commissioned by the Sutton Trust found that the quality of careers education, advice, information and guidance (CEIAG) received by young people affects social mobility. 2 Whilst in 2011, the coalition government placed a legal duty on schools and colleges to provide careers guidance, the Sutton Trust noted that this was accompanied by weak statutory guidance and little help or support. As a result, there has been a decline in the quality and quantity of the careers guidance available to young people in England and the emergence of a postcode lottery where some young people have access to much better career guidance than others. 1 Careers Guidance Guaranteed, Summary Report of Online Survey, Association of Colleges and The Skills Show, 2014 2 Advancing ambitions: The role of career guidance in supporting social mobility, Tristram Hooley, Jesse Matheson, A.G. Watts, 2014
3.4. ATL members report that careers provision is fragmented. Whilst there are many good quality providers of careers support for young people (for example Barclays Lifeskills and STEMNET), it is too time-consuming for teachers to research all of these adequately and assess which are appropriate to the young people with whom they work. This particularly applies to the wide range of online careers resources. Teachers also tell us that outside agencies providing CEIAG can be hit and miss. This fragmentation of provision, with a range of organisations offering a variety of programmes and web-based resources, has also resulted in a lack of coordination, so that young people are not receiving comprehensive information about the wide range of options and opportunities available. 3.5. It is of concern to our members that careers provision is not taken as seriously as it should be by some schools and leaders, which is the inevitable result of dramatically increased workload and diminishing school budgets. 3 Teachers are often allocated responsibility for CEIAG based on the number of free periods they have available, rather than on their expertise or interest in this area. 3.6. In 2014 The Gatsby Foundation produced The Good Careers Guide, which presented eight benchmarks of good careers guidance, with were fully costed by PWC. 4 This should be used as the basis of a model of properly funded CEIAG provision for young people in schools and colleges. CEIAG must be embedded in the curriculum to demonstrate the links between subject content and its application in working life. It must also be coordinated by specialist careers teachers, and supported with whole school CPD. CEIAG works best when delivered in a variety of ways, including face-to-face, oneto-one meetings. The current telephone based support provided by the National Careers Service is inadequate. In a survey by the TUC, 75% of young people responded that they preferred face-to-face guidance. 5 3.7. ATL members are keen for staff from further education colleges to visit schools and speak to young people about opportunities. However, whilst some work successfully together, the incorporation of further education colleges (which have naturally made these institutions competitors of all other local education providers) and the funding arrangements for school sixth forms, have not created an environment which is conducive for collaboration between schools and colleges. 3.8. Furthermore The Review of Post-16 Education and Training, announced by the government in the summer of 2015, with the aim of creating few, larger colleges, is causing problems for schools currently advising young people of their career options. As this policy is implemented and further education colleges and courses close or merge, there is no certainty that these will be available within the next 12 months to five years. 4. How careers advice in schools and colleges can help to match skills with labour market needs 3 ATL member survey: 81% of members have considered leaving the education profession because of their workload, 2015 4 The Good Careers Guide, John Holman, University of York, 2014 5 TUC survey, 2014
4.1. Analysing the labour market needs in each school s locality is a complex endeavour and requires adequate funding and resource. Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) would be a starting point to undertake such an analysis, although LEPs vary widely in their effectiveness and also their willingness to engage with education. 6 In addition, LEPs do not necessarily include representation from small and medium size enterprises. It is vital that the skills needs of these organisations are captured as small businesses account for 99% of private sector businesses and 60% of all private sector employment in the UK. 7 Currently around one in seven people in employment are self-employed in their main job. 8 The skills needs relating to self-employment in the local area would also need to be gathered to ensure representative careers advice in schools and colleges. Further analysis would also need to capture the skills needs of the public sector, particularly where this is a proportionally larger employer. 4.2. Gathering the information outlined above to ensure it is matched to school and college careers provision would need to be an ongoing activity as local skills needs are constantly changing. One only needs to look at the change to the labour market which will occur as a result of the job losses at Tata Steel in Scunthorpe to understand the complex and dynamic nature of local skills needs. Furthermore, more complex analysis would need to be carried out to establish the number of jobs available at levels suitable for school and college leavers, and how changes (such as major plant closures) impact on these, as older workers are forced to downgrade as a result of redundancy. Schools do not have the capacity, knowledge or skills to undertake comprehensive and up-to-date analyses of local labour market needs, and would require significant funding and external support to carry this out. 4.3. ATL also questions whether it is in the best interests of young people and society to match local labour market needs to careers advice in schools and colleges. Some areas of the country are dominated by a single large employer or industrial sector. For example, the professional, scientific and technical activities sector is notably clustered in London and the South East, whereas manufacturing jobs are most concentrated in the Midlands. 9 The skills required by employers in these sectors may not suit all or any of the young people s aptitude and ambitions within the local schools. Furthermore, many young people may wish to move to other parts of the country for a variety of reasons. 4.4. The Review of Post-16 Education and Training, currently being carried out on an area-by-area basis, is currently attempting to match skills provision in Further Education and Sixth Form Colleges with local employers needs. The Committee should await the evaluation of this policy implementation to establish the degree of success it has achieved. 6 Ofsted Annual Report 2014/15: education and skills: states that LEPs are variable in providing quality information 7 Business Population Estimates for the UK and Regions, FSB, 2015 8 The self-employment boom: Key issues for the 2015 Parliament, www.parliament.ac.uk, 2015 9 The distribution of employee jobs by industry across Great Britain, Office for National Statistics, 2013
5. The role of the new Careers and Enterprise Company and its relationship with other bodies such as the National Careers Service 5.1. The majority of ATL members have no knowledge of the Careers and Enterprise Company and its remit. This needs to be communicated to teachers to ensure that their students can benefit from this resource. ATL s view is that the government must fund a genuine partnership between schools, colleges, higher education institutions, local government, employers and social services, with the aim of engaging learners, parents and carers in CEIAG. The Careers and Enterprise Company should facilitate and oversee this partnership to solve the problem of the fragmented CEIAG system described in paragraph 3.4. 5.2. Whilst the National Careers Service has a place in the CEIAG partnership described above, on its own it is an inadequate resource for ensuring good quality provision. As discussed above, young people should be provided with face-to-face CEIAG delivered by a specialist in this area; their needs are not met through a website and telephone helpline. 6. Careers advice and apprenticeships 6.1. Teachers are frequently criticised by employers and government ministers for failing to advise young people about apprenticeship opportunities. However, of all the registrations on the government s Apprenticeships website, 46% are aged 16-18 years, and 60% of applications to apprenticeships are made by young people under the age of 18 years. Despite this, only 27% of level 2 apprenticeship starts are aged under 19 years. This indicates that young people are aware of apprenticeships and are also actively pursuing opportunities in this area, albeit unsuccessfully. This is supported by the fact that the majority of those starting on apprenticeships are older. Indeed, 48% of apprenticeship vacancies are filled by existing staff. Rather than teachers giving no or little advice on this area, it would appear that the problem of young people not taking up apprenticeships is due to employers finding it easier and cheaper to recruit older existing employees. The limited apprenticeship opportunities available for young people, is evidenced by the fact that only 6% of 16-17 year olds are on apprenticeship programmes. 10 6.2. In addition, there is a limited availability of good quality apprenticeships available for young people. The surge to 2million apprenticeships since 2010, are mainly as a result of the large volume of starts in the customer service, retail, administration and care sectors. Ofsted recently stated that many of these apprenticeships are of poor quality, with 49% of provision judged inadequate or requiring improvement. 11 Furthermore, apprentices in the food production, retail and care sectors were completing apprenticeships by having low-level skills accredited. Ofsted also stated that high quality apprenticeships are typically found in industries with long-established reliance on apprentices to develop their future workforce. 6.3. In order to improve the quality of apprenticeships, reforms in this area must be refocused upon young apprentices, rather than developed for the benefit of large businesses. Unionlearn has produced a Charter for Apprenticeships 10 Ofsted Annual Report, 2013/14, further education and skills 11 Ofsted Annual Report 2014/15: education and skills
that sets out the hallmarks of high quality provision. In December 2015, Ofsted stated that apprenticeship reforms must focus on raising the quality rather than increasing numbers. 12 7. The potential for employers to play a greater role in careers advice 7.1. Whilst many firms believe that educational establishments should focus on the skills needed for work, over three-quarters of them believe that lack of work experience is the reason young people are unprepared for the workplace. It is unfortunate therefore, that the coalition government removed the statutory requirement for 14 to 16-year-olds to carry out a twoweek work placement. 7.2. Employers however, should also take some responsibility. Whilst complaining that young people lack workplace experience and skills, a 2012 survey by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills showed that less than a third of UK businesses had offered a work experience placement in the previous year. In an ATL survey of members in 2014, 40% reported poor access to and involvement of national employers in their schools careers education provision, and 10% said that it was non-existent. In addition, employers must understand that the purpose of education is not to train individuals for their specific workplace. Currently, 47% of employers offer no training. Rather than expect schools to do their job for them, employers should invest in developing the skills of their workforce. 7.3. Mandatory work placements for 16-18 year olds must be reinstated, so that young people can experience the world of work. Employers must engage with schools and colleges more consistently and sustainably. In addition to offering work experience, employers should support the delivery of CEIAG to young people. This can happen in a variety of ways, for example through attending careers fairs, delivering talks, providing engaging role models from the workplace, organising site visits, and offering mentoring schemes. Employers should also engage with schools to better understand the skills that young people can bring to their organisations and how they can support transition. 7.4. The government must also give special consideration as to how good quality CEIAG can be provided in rural and other areas where there are few employers or high unemployment. Members working in schools in these areas tell us that young people have a very limited knowledge of the range of occupations beyond their immediate families and school environments. They are also unable to access opportunities to gain an awareness of the range of options available to them, due to the lack of funding for travel to larger urban areas where varied job markets. 12 Ibid.