Last month, university staff voted to take strike action, citing “unmanageable workloads” as one of the reasons. This issue surely raises a question about the sheer volume of school leavers progressing to university, particularly when applications are at an all-time high. Back in 1999, Tony Blair set a target of getting 50% of school leavers into university; a target that was achieved for the first time in 2019. But is university actually the right choice for 50% of school leavers? Given the fact that a significant proportion of university graduates end up in jobs that don’t require a university degree, that strategy is bought into question when reflecting on the demands of today’s labour market. The graduate job market is reported to be hyper-competitive and flooded with applications from 2021 graduates as well as those who graduated in the past few years, resulting in a fierce battle for entry-level jobs.
Moving forward, we have some constants to work with:
- the career landscape is changing, driven by technology, globalisation, Brexit and the effects of the pandemic;
- employers continue to report that young people, including graduates, are entering the labour market without the skills or knowledge to progress and succeed in a contemporary workplace;
- technical skills will become as important as academic skills
- not enough young people are progressing onto technical and work-based training routes such as T Levels and Higher and Degree Apprenticeships and this must be addressed by the government and employers alike.
Young people today are faced with a plethora of career pathways and training options and it is abundantly clear that they require more help with making decisions about their post-16 and post-18 choices. The problem here is that the demand for qualified career guidance practitioners far outstrips supply. Secondary schools, academies and colleges are bound by statutory duty to provide personal guidance for all learners to include a one to one career guidance interview in Year 11 followed by a further interview post-16. Many organisations are working incredibly hard to achieve this benchmark (Gatsby Benchmark 8, for those who are familiar with the Gatsby framework) but with reduced funding, they are being forced to make sufficiency judgements of what they can afford and how to make the most of the resources they have. Colleges in particular struggle with the duty to provide one to one guidance as well as schools with large cohorts, simply due to the number of learners on roll. So, what is the solution? One option is to adopt a triage approach to one to one guidance. This model enables organisations to maximise their guidance provision by up-skilling members of staff who wish to achieve an accredited Level 3 qualification designed to equip them with the skills and knowledge to provide high-quality career information and advice. Level 3 qualified staff can work alongside Level 6 guidance practitioners to ensure that every student receives targeted support that meets an individual needs. The Level 6 practitioner is then released to work with priority students such as those with special educational needs and disabilities or those facing personal, social or cultural barriers to progression.
In Lincolnshire, Complete Careers has been supporting a triage approach to careers provision for close to 10 years. More recently schools, colleges and universities across the Midlands have made the commitment to upskill staff by gaining accreditation through the Gateway Qualifications Level 3 Award in Information, Advice or Guidance with positive results. These trained staff have been instrumental in supporting learners via their ability to diagnose learner needs and either signposting them to relevant sources of career information and advising on possible education/training routes or referring learners onto the Level 6 practitioner for specialist support.
If you would like to find out more about this qualification and how it can help your organisation increase the number of learners who can access high-quality career information and advice, please contact Joanna Welch, Senior Career Practitioner at:
joanna.welch@complete-careers.com
What people are saying about this course:
“I found all of the training useful, and it was delivered at a good pace demonstrating lots of experience and enthusiasm.”
I am so glad I have done this course as it has definitely improved my practice which I am very passionate about.”