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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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)
Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) and Transitions in Focus: A guide to support vision impaired children and young people
Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT) has a range of useful resources for careers leaders and practitioners working with blind and partially sighted students in mainstream secondary schools and colleges.
DPD Core Values
This resource developed by DPD is part of the My Skills My Future programme and is aimed at SEND group 1 young people.
Dream Job
This resource has been collated by Green Corridor College to support understanding around jobs for young people in SEND group 1 and is part of the My Skills My Future programme.
Compass Evaluation
The Compass evaluation has been updated in response to the updated Gatsby Benchmarks and statutory guidance.
OnTrack+ Practice Guide
OnTrack+ provides early insight within Compass+ to help schools and specialist settings recognise learners who may benefit from additional support.
This guidance outlines how to embed an evidence‑informed process for early identification and intervention, ensuring learners receive the right support at the right time while maintaining robust, responsible data practice.