A Stable Careers Programme
Every school, special school, college or provider should have an embedded programme of careers education and guidance that is known and understood by learners, parents and carers, staff, governors, employers and other agencies.
What good looks like
- Every school, special school, college and provider should have a stable, structured careers programme that has the explicit backing of governors, the headteacher and the senior management team, and has an identified and appropriately trained Careers Leader responsible for it.
- The careers programme should be tailored to the needs of learners, sequenced appropriately, underpinned by learning outcomes and linked to the whole-school development plan. It should also set out how parents and carers will be engaged throughout.
- The careers programme should be published on the school, special school, college and provider's website and communicated in ways that enable learners, parents and carers, staff and employers to access and understand it.
- The programme should be regularly evaluated using feedback from learners, parents and carers, teachers and other staff who support learners, Careers Advisers and employers to increase its impact.
The resources below are designed to support you with Gatsby Benchmark 1. To explore all of the Gatsby Benchmarks in greater depth, download the toolkit that best aligns with your setting.
Funded Careers Leader training via The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) supports with accelerated and meaningful achievement of the Gatsby Benchmarks
Develop a Strategic Careers Plan to ensure that the careers programme has clear backing from the leadership team and integrate into the institutions broader development plan, aligning it with key goals and priorities to give it the necessary authority and resources. Access the Understanding how to create a Strategic Careers Plan resource to support with this.
Develop a careers programme that is responsive to learner needs, with provision sequenced progressively and underpinned by learning outcomes. Access the Understanding how to develop progressive and responsive careers provision (Careers Learning Journeys) resource to support with this.
Make sure everyone knows which way you’re heading – ensure all stakeholders understand your careers programme by using these careers learner journey roadmap templates to present it in a visual way
Gather input from learners, parents and carers, teachers, other staff, Careers Advisers and employers on how well the careers programme is working. Use the CEC guidance on survey creation and access the survey template resources to easily capture stakeholder feedback. Review the feedback and data to continuously improve the careers programme. Access the Understanding how to effectively evaluate your careers provision resource to support with this.
Support headteachers, senior leaders and governors to understand the strategic value of careers provision. Get started today with your Careers impact internal leadership review.
Use the handy Parental Engagement Checklist as a guide to establish and maintain effective parental engagement in your setting. You can effectively record parental engagement in Compass+. Read this Help Centre article to find out how.
Ensure that the Careers Leader and all other relevant staff, including SEND teams, access the free training offer from the CEC.
Education Leaders and Governors:
Education Leaders and Governors: For further information on each Benchmark, to support you in your role, please see the Education Leader, Secondary and College Governor Guides.
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Careers Leader training
Transform your careers programme and develop your skills as a Careers Leader to strategically embed careers in the curriculum.
Careers guidance and access for education and training providers
In this resource you can find the link to the Statutory Guidance and the CEC at a glance guides for schools and college leaders and training providers.
Understanding how to effectively evaluate your careers provision
This resource helps Careers Leaders effectively evaluate their careers provision using feedback from learners, parents and carers, subject staff and other staff who support learners (including Careers Advisers) to increase its impact. This resource also supports Careers Leaders to:
- Collect, maintain and use accurate data for each learner on their aspiration, intended and immediate education, and training or employment destinations to inform personalised support (Benchmark 3)
- Use longer-term data (including destinations data) as part of their evaluation process (Benchmark 3)
Understanding how to develop progressive and responsive careers provision (Careers Learning Journeys)
This guidance provides Careers Leaders with steps to map and enhance their current careers provision that is underpinned by learning outcomes to support learners to make aspirational and informed decisions, make effective and sustained transitions and to develop career readiness skills.
Understanding how to create a strategic careers plan
This resource helps Careers Leaders create a strategic careers plan that ensures the careers provision:
- Has explicit backing of governors, the headteacher and the senior management teams
- Is linked to the whole school, special school or college development plan
My Journey, My Future
This programme is focused on the different stages of transition experienced by young people on the journey from education to the world of work.
Governor slide deck
Use this presentation to help secondary school and college governors understand their role and responsibilities, how engaging with the Careers Impact System can support careers to be a driver for improvement and encourage them to engage with our accompanying governor guidance.
Careers Statutory Guidance: At a glance guides for school, college and ITP leaders
This resource provides an overview of the responsibilities of schools and colleges outlined in the publication ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers'.
Support for students on Results Days
We have collated key advice, resource and support to help you to prepare, deliver and reflect on Results Days. For urgent help, please contact National Careers Service helpline on 0800 100 900. Lines are open weekdays from 8am - 8pm and 10am-5pm Saturday.
Support students and key stakeholders to understand all pathways
We have brought together a range of key resources and support to help ensure that students, staff, parents and carers are informed about and understand the full range of education and career pathways available at ages 16 and 18. Explore these resources for clear, at-a-glance overviews of post-16 and post-18 options, including academic, technical and vocational routes.
Ofsted - Education Inspection Framework Guide
Updated June 2026
This guide is designed to support education leaders and Careers Leaders by highlighting key changes in Ofsted’s approach to inspecting careers education from November 2025.
Future Skills Questionnaire
The Future Skills Questionnaire (FSQ) is a tool to measure learners’ career-readiness. FSQ covers key aspects of knowledge, skills and attitudes that are important for successful transitions. To access FSQ, eligible education settings must connect a compatible Management Information System (MIS) to Compass+.