Careers Leader
Careers Leaders are responsible and accountable for the planning, delivery and impact measurement of their school, special school or college’s strategic careers plan and progressive careers programme.
It’s a key role that involves aligning careers provision to the strategic priorities of the school, special school or college and overseeing work towards meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks in a meaningful way for young people.
The Careers Leader needs to be someone who can:
- Take responsibility for continuous improvement of the strategic careers plan and the progressive careers programme, which should be planned and implemented to ensure positive outcomes for young people.
- Coordinate and manage the various elements of the careers programme informed by a strategic careers plan aligned to school, special school or college priorities.
- Liaise with external partners, such as employers, learning providers and career guidance services.
- Pay careful attention to feedback from all stakeholders and to the destinations of pupils.
Developed with you in mind, we’ve made it easy to quickly find the trusted, high quality resources you need to make a difference. We’ve identified, and regularly update, key resources that can directly support you as you plan, implement and measure the impact of your strategic careers plan and progressive careers programme and as you work towards achieving the Gatsby Benchmarks.
Careers Impact internal leadership review
The Careers Impact internal leadership review supports a quality assured, sustainable and strategic approach to careers leadership.
The review forms part of the Careers Impact System, which is a process that drives continuous improvement in careers education. It sets clearly defined standards as to what good looks like in careers leadership and is directly linked to wider school and college improvement.
Spotlight
Careers Leader Induction: Free Online Learning
Careers Leader Induction: Free Online Learning
Guided Learning Hours: 2-4 hours
Careers Leader training
Transform your careers programme and develop your skills as a Careers Leader to strategically embed careers in the curriculum.
Benchmark 1: Suggested universal career-related learning outcomes
This resource suggests a set of learning outcomes that could underpin your universal careers provision.
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
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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.
equalex
Developed by the Careers & Enterprise Company and supported by Careers Hubs, the equalex framework, defines learning outcomes and objectives and allows educators to embed meaningful workplace experiences within a progressive whole school careers programme.
Watch the video below, 'Leadership in Action: Defining the Future of High-Quality, Modern Work Experiences,' to learn about the benefits.
Into Film: Classroom Resources
Into Film have developed a wide range of engaging, curriculum‑ready materials designed to help young people explore the breadth of opportunities in the screen industries.
Together, they provide practical activities, industry insights and clear pathways that support learners in developing skills, discovering careers and taking their next steps into the world of film, TV, games and beyond.
Below you will find further details, descriptions and links to specific resources.
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.
The WOW Show
Take advantage of this free, flexible teaching tool which provides ‘meaningful’ virtual video encounters in line with Gatsby Benchmark 5 for young people to explore a significant range of workplaces and ‘meet’ near peers to understand what their jobs are really like.
Check out the latest film!
Interests and Destinations: Learner Form and Leaver Survey
The Learner Form is a copy of all the data fields from the Interests & Destinations section of a Learner profile on Compass+. The Leaver Questionnaire can help you support learners make successful transitions, and it also records consent for long-term tracking.
Supporting learners at risk of NEET
We have collated key resources and guidance that you can use to effectively support learners who are most at risk of not having a positive destination.
OnTrack+ Practice Guide
OnTrack+ has been designed to help educators identify emerging support needs for learners in Years 7-11, strengthening sustained learner engagement and post-16 transition.
OnTrack+ is available through Compass+, for eligible settings with a compatible MIS connection.
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.
Collecting Intended Destinations
Find out why collecting destination data is so important, and learn about some effective methods Careers Leaders use to capture this information.
Post-16 Changes: What you need to know
Created by the CDI in partnership with Amazing Apprenticeships, these resources explain the Government's recently announced changes to post-16 pathways. The first new courses are expected to launch in September 2027, with further courses being introduced through to 2030/31. Explore everything you need to know about what these changes mean for young people.
Parental Engagement Checklist
We have designed a handy checklist that you can use as a guide to establish and maintain effective parental engagement across your setting.
For settings that have connected their Management Information System (MIS) to Compass+, read the Help Centre article to find out how to use the Activities section effectively to record parental engagement.
Keyword(s): all
Interests and Destinations: Learner Form and Leaver Survey
The Learner Form is a copy of all the data fields from the Interests & Destinations section of a Learner profile on Compass+. The Leaver Questionnaire can help you support learners make successful transitions, and it also records consent for long-term tracking.
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)
10X Challenge from Young Enterprise
The 10X Challenge, from Young Enterprise, is a free national enterprise programme providing young people, aged 11-19, with first-hand experience of starting their own business with a £10 pledge in four weeks, entering exciting competitions along the way!
A - Z of jobs activity SEND
Developed by the Inspiring Worcestershire Careers Hub team, this activity will enable SEND students to begin to learn how to research information regarding different job roles of interest to them.
A Focus on the Future – Raising Awareness of Visual Impairment in Business
Leicestershire Cares Education team’s info pack about their employability project with visually impaired young people. This pack includes a guide for businesses signposting helpful info and resources on employing people with a visual impairment.
A Future STEM
A Future STEM is a collection of STEM subject careers activities linked to employability skills.
Accenture Digital Skills
This resource has been developed by Accenture (national) and is offered on a free learning basis.
A collaborative, peer to peer learning tool building the digital skills needed to stand out in today’s workplace:
- Bite-sized, animated videos presented by digital experts
- 110+ animated bitesize videos with content covering 7 digital courses presented by Accenture digital experts
- Innovative use of social media tools to facilitate peer to peer learning
- CPD accredited certificate received for completing the modules.
Activity linked to TV SEND
Developed by the Inspiring Worcestershire Careers Hub team this resource has been specifically designed to be used as a discussion activity with SEND students around a TV programme linked to the world of work.
Advancing Access Initiative: Free CPD Resources and Events
Help more of your students progress into the UK’s most competitive universities by using these free CPD resources, developed by the Russell Group.

