Personal guidance
Every learner should have opportunities for guidance meetings with a Careers Adviser, who could be internal (a member of staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. These meetings should be available for all learners whenever significant study or career choices are being made. They should be expected for all learners but should be scheduled to meet their individual needs. The Careers Leader should work closely with the Careers Adviser, SEND coordinator (SENDCO and other key staff to ensure personal guidance is effective and embedded in the careers programme.
What good looks like
School
- Every pupil should have at least one personal guidance meeting with a Careers Adviser by the age of 16, and a further meeting by the age of 18. Meetings should be scheduled in the careers programme to meet the needs of pupils.
- Information about personal guidance support and how to access it should be communicated to pupils and parents and carers, including through the school website.
Further Education
- Every learner should have at least one personal guidance meeting with a Careers Adviser. Meetings should be scheduled in the careers programme to meet the needs of learners.
- Information about personal guidance support and how to access it should be communicated to learners, parents and carers and other stakeholders, including through the provider website.
The resources below are designed to support you with Gatsby Benchmark 8. To explore all of the Gatsby Benchmarks in greater depth, download the toolkit that best aligns with your setting.
Work with key colleagues to identify and consider the timing and regularity of personal guidance. Robust systems should be in place to ensure that personal guidance meetings are responsive to learner need and scheduled appropriately. This resource will support with mapping and enhancing current provision.
For best practice in commissioning independent careers guidance services, use the CDI guide and ‘Find a Registered Career Development Professional’ tool on the CDI website.
Time spent with a Careers Adviser is valuable, so ensuring all involved, including parents and carers, understand its value and purpose is crucial to maximise impact. Access the CEC resources and support for parents and carers, including the FREE Parental Engagement in Careers CPD, to ensure parents and carers add value to your approach to personal guidance
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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Compass Evaluation
A Compass evaluation enables education settings to quickly and easily evaluate their careers activity against the eight Gatsby Benchmarks.
The Compass evaluation feature was built in partnership with the Gatsby Charitable Foundation to help practitioners easily discover their education setting's strengths and find areas for improvement.
The Compass evaluation questions have had some small updates for 26/27 and updated question by question guidance is coming soon to reflect these changes.
Engaging education leaders in the peer-to-peer review process
Resources to help you understand the value of taking part in a peer-to-peer review, or to support education leaders in engaging meaningfully with the process.
What’s your strength?® - Free Downloads
Careers Adviser, Katherine Jennick, the creator of the award winning What’s your strength?® cards, has developed a number of strength-based tools which are free to download.
Gatsby Benchmark Toolkit: Schools, Special Schools & AP
The Gatsby Benchmark Toolkit for Schools, Special Schools and Alternative Provisions provides practical information and guidance on the updated Gatsby Benchmarks .
Evenbreak: Career advice and resources
We’re here for candidates with any long-term health condition or disability – be it physical or mental health, sensory or cognitive. We’re not a charity. Or driven by profit. We are a social enterprise that exists to ensure:
- Inclusive employers can reach and retain a skilled and diverse pool of talent.
- Talented disabled candidates can access a range of opportunities with employers who put talent first.
People know about the business benefits gained from an inclusive workplace.
Careers Impact System peer-to-peer review
The Careers Impact peer-to-peer review is an expert-facilitated, collaborative process that brings external challenge to strengthen careers leadership and improvement planning. It supports institutions to test their thinking, refine priorities, and embed high-quality careers provision across the system.
Primary Career Resources
Career-related learning in primary schools includes activities designed to give pupils a wide range of experiences of education, transitions and the world of work.
Engaging education leaders in the internal leadership review process
If you are looking to understand why you should take part in an internal leadership review, or you are supporting education leaders and senior staff to engage with the process, this collection of resources will help you get started and ensure the experience is purposeful and impactful.
The Interview Practice Channel
InterviewBot helps the careers process by providing Careers Leaders with a series of interview questions recorded on video by avatars. They cover 20 different subjects, including School Leaver, General, Marketing, Teaching, Nursing and Retail.
The National Apprenticeship & Education Events
The National Apprenticeship & Education Events are designed to inspire school & college leavers, and other young adults, to discover more about career and further education opportunities.
Book your Free Student Places!
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.
Vocational Profiling
Supporting delivery of the Gatsby Benchmark and CDI Careers Framework.