From September 2026, The Careers & Enterprise Company will offer one digital product - Compass+. If you currently use Compass, you will simply move to Compass+ without access to learner data. From September, you will see brand-new homepage and have access to new features. For colleges, easy-to-use functionality will also be introduced to improve the management of sites and departments. 

For schools and specialist settings with a compatible Management Information System (MIS), Compass+ can connect to the MIS and access learner data. Colleges and ITPs are unable to connect their MIS to Compass+, although this is something that we continue to work towards. 

As we progress, the migration will enable us to explore how we can evolve Compass+ to better meet your needs.  

Connecting an MIS to Compass+ unlocks these key features: 

• Complete Compass evaluations to meaningfully achieve all eight Gatsby Benchmarks.  
• Drive continuous improvement by recording Careers Impact internal leadership review responses to explore programme strengths and priority action areas.  
• Measure learners’ career readiness with the Future Skills Questionnaire. 
• Access learner-level data to deliver targeted support.    
• Securely manage Careers Partners all in one place.  
• Engage with data and reporting to strategically plan and deliver a high-quality careers programme.  

Compass is currently still available to most secondary schools, special schools, sixth forms, colleges, APs and ITPs in England, but from September 2026, all Compass users will move across to Compass+. Users won’t have access to learner data, unless their setting has a compatible Management Information System and this has been connected to Compass+ before the end of July. 

Complete a Compass evaluation, to measure performance against the Gatsby Benchmarks, and record Careers Impact internal leadership review responses, to effectively identify strengths and discover areas for improvement within your careers provision.    

Whether your setting is currently using Compass+ or Compass, you can access the Compass evaluation and record Careers Impact internal leadership review responses in both products.  

The Compass evaluation has undergone a series of updates in response to the updated Gatsby Benchmarks and statutory guidance. Three new Compass evaluations are available on Compass+ and Compass covering schools, specialist settings and FE/ITPs.  

Completing a Compass evaluation is simple: just answer the questions in the evaluation and the results are calculated for you.   

A Compass evaluation takes around 30 minutes to complete. You can save your progress anytime during an evaluation and come back to it later. Once you have completed an evaluation, you can copy and update results for next time.   

Take a look at our question by question guidance to help you understand the updates and how to answer the new questions.   

We strongly recommend sharing our Compass evaluation guidance for SLT with your leadership team to help explain the impact the updates may have on your setting’s Compass evaluation results. 

To support you with sharing updates about the changes with your stakeholders including employers, partners and providers we have created stakeholder guidance. For other stakeholders such as parents and carers you can adapt this guidance to use in presentations and communications.  

An internal leadership review is based on the Careers Impact Maturity Model, which provides a shared language of how careers can be positioned as a driver for improvement across an institution or organisation. 

Undertaking an internal leadership review supports the quality assurance of a careers provision and encourages continuous improvement aligned to key priorities within an institution or organisation. Once you have completed a review, simply record your responses in Compass+ or Compass. 

Find out more about the benefits of an internal leadership review.

Whether you’re brand-new to using our digital products or you’re an experienced user, our Help Centres have you covered, including information on completing a Compass evaluation and an internal leadership review. 

Compass+ Help Centre: Watch a webinar, read a Help Centre article, download templates and resources – the Compass+ Help Centre has it all! It’s your one-stop shop for all things Compass+. 

Compass Help Centre: Access a range of guidance and resources that support you to complete Compass evaluations effectively and record internal leadership review responses. Organised by institution type, just click on the right one for you.