A government review has suggested that all schools should have access to Careers Hubs. The Independent panel report to the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding, led by Dr Philip Augar, is as the name suggests focused predominantly on post-18 education and funding, but makes a few recommendations which are relevant to schools. The panel recommends that the government’s careers strategy be rolled out nationally ‘so that every secondary school is able to be part of a careers hub, that training is available to all careers leaders and that more young people have access to meaningful careers activities and encounters with employers’. They also suggest that schools ‘be held to account for their statutory responsibility to provide IAG [information, advice and guidance]’. Schools can’t receive an ‘outstanding’ rating from Ofsted for their personal development, behaviour and welfare provision unless they have ‘high quality, impartial careers guidance’ in place, something which the panel welcome.

The panel also made a number of recommendations for further education (FE) provision, including that FE colleges should receive a dedicated capital investment of £1 billion over the next spending review period. They also suggest that in rural and semi-rural areas, small FE colleges should be ‘strongly encouraged to form or join groups in order to ensure sustainable quality provision in the long term’. Another recommendation is that the reduction in the core funding level for 18 year olds should be reversed, so that they have parity with younger students - 18 year olds currently have an unweighted base rate of £3,300 compared to £4,000 for 16 and 17 year olds. The report also recommends that investment in the FE workforce should be a ‘priority’, and that Ofsted should become the lead responsible body for inspecting all levels of apprenticeship (currently the Office for Students has oversight of level 6 and 7 apprenticeship programmes).

Full report: https://tinyurl.com/y38uthyh