Is finding careers advice becoming as difficult as finding a career?

In the build-up to the launch of the government’s new National Career’s Service next year, research shows that a significant number of young people have never received any careers advice.

A survey on behalf of the City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development has revealed that 1 in 4 teenagers have never received any careers advice. The survey polled 1,620 young people aged 15 – 19, and also found that those on vocational courses were the ‘least likely to have been given guidance’.

Nick Grist, head of the City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development said:

‘Young people depend on effective guidance to help them choose career and learning options that suit their interests, talents and aspirations.’

There was also some disparity between those with parents who had degrees and those without. Only 30% of teenagers would turn first to their parents for advice if they had no more than GCSE-level qualifications, compared to 45% who would ask their parents for career help if they had degrees.

A recent post by the Graduate Recruitment Bureau on The Student Room, said that the government’s reorganisation of careers advice in England ‘equates to a £200 million annual cut for careers advice services’.

The new plans give schools ‘a legal duty’ to offer careers advice to their pupils. A spokesman from the Department for Education gave the reasoning that

‘Schools know their students best and they are the ones best placed to decide what provision is right.’

Furthermore, as an ‘all-age careers service‘, it is aimed at helping adults as well as young people to navigate their new or prospective career paths.

A careers survey conducted by The Student Room earlier this year found similar results to those of the City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development, in that the group who identified career advice as being ‘very important’ were those not going to university.

’63% of students finishing school but not going on to university thought it was essential to have sufficient knowledge to help them pursue a career.’

Students of all ages are ‘actively seeking advice from their peers’ on The Student Room not only about courses and careers but also where to find professional careers advice. The responses not only include shared experiences but also useful links that others have come across.

Some of the areas students are concerned about include:

• the career prospects of different A-levels
• routes into specific careers

Mature Students

• changing career - advice on different courses, where to study, is it too late?
• choosing between a career and starting a family
• accommodation advice – whether to stay in halls or shared-houses
• locating funding – for part-time study or Access courses

The government’s National Careers Service, planned to launch next Spring, is intended to provide ‘a single point of access’ for young people and adults to ‘online and helpline services’. Despite reservations among several groups, the GRB expressed hope that the service will be helpful.

SEE ALSO

• TSR Research shows young people are not equipped to find work
• What causes graduates to reject their degrees when looking for a career?
• Government Uses Facebook To Provide Careers Advice

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