We believe good careers guidance should be an essential part of every young person’s educational journey.
It’s particularly important for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who are less likely to have access to the same quality of information and connections as their better-off peers.
But right now it’s in very short supply.
Lack of funding
Across all state schools in England only 10% were found to have adequate funding for Careers, Advice, Information and Guidance (CAIG)1. In fact, around 20% of secondary schools receive less than £2,000 funding per year which on average equates to just £2 per student annually2.
Since 2012, when the government devolved responsibility for CAIG to schools, a study has shown that support decreased in eight out of ten state schools3 and 82% of teachers don’t have sufficient information to feel confident giving careers advice to their students4.
Whilst good careers guidance is proven to improve self-esteem, decision making and educational outcomes5, sadly it’s young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who suffer the most when it’s absent.
That’s why MyBigCareer is building new partnerships with schools and businesses and recruiting inspirational volunteers to give more young people 1:1 career coaching across the UK.
Increasing need
Evidence has demonstrated that it is young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who most benefit from quality CAIG6. In the absence of clear career goals, young people are three times more likely to spend time not in education, employment or training (NEET)7 and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are 50% more likely to become NEET than their better off peers8.
Whilst the pandemic has widened the social mobility gap, support in CIAG has declined with the majority of school and colleges report that careers guidance has decreased significantly since early 20209. 48% of young people from poorer households now believe that they will ‘never succeed in life’10.
Gatsby Benchmarks
The Gatsby Benchmarks, established by the Gatsby Foundation in 2013, defined a set of indicators for Good Career Guidance which were adopted into the UK Government’s career strategy for schools and colleges.
Working in partnership with schools and businesses, MyBigCareer programmes support six crucial Benchmarks:
A stable careers programme – we work with school partners to support students throughout their educational journey
Learning about career labour market – our business partners and volunteers bring valuable industry experience and insight
Addressing the needs of each pupil – our 1:1 sessions are shaped around the needs of each student
Encounters with employers and employees – our Insight Days introduce pupils to leading employers and inspiring employees
Experience of workplaces – we connect young people to workplace experiences with our corporate partners
Personal guidance – from Results Day to interview practice, individualised expert guidance sits at the heart of all our programmes
Get in touch
We’re looking for schools and businesses to join us so that we can keep on reaching the young people who need us most with the highest quality careers support. Together we can connect, inspire and make change.
To hear more about our programme of careers guidance please get in touch with the team.
We’d love to hear from you. hello@mybigcareer.org
1Careers England, 2019
2Careers England, 2019
3BBC, Nov 2012
4UK Government, 2012
5Careers and Enterprise Company, 2018
6Department of Education, 2017
7Ofsted, 2013
8Impetus, 2019
9The Gatsby Foundation, 2020
10Princes Trust, 2020