Amendment 13: Skills and Post-16 Education Bill [Lords]
Amendment 13, tabled by the hon. Member for Chesterfield, would require every local school to provide face-to-face careers guidance for every pupil and two weeks’ worth of compulsory work experience for every registered pupil. I am proud to say that the 2019 employer skills survey estimated that in the 12 months before  the survey—this is before covid—employers provided 782,000 placements for students in schools, more than half a million placements for students at college, and more than 400,000 placements for students at university. The careers statutory guidance makes it clear that schools and colleges should follow the Gatsby benchmarks and offer personal guidance and experiences of work as part of their careers strategy for all pupils. Every young person should have the opportunity to receive personal guidance from a careers professional whenever significant study or career choices are being made. The Gatsby  benchmarks require a personal guidance interview by the age of 16 and a further such interview at the age  of 18. Personal guidance is the strongest performing benchmark. Some 80% of secondary schools report providing most students with an interview with a qualified careers adviser by the end of Year 11.
We want schools and colleges to follow the Gatsby benchmarks on careers guidance. These have been independently developed by experts based on the very best international practice. We want schools and colleges to have confidence in following the Gatsby benchmarks and that is what we will stick to.