Secretary of State expands national support for Careers Hubs and Careers Leaders

On Tuesday (2 October) the Secretary of State for Education, Damian Hinds MP, announced a significant further commitment to achieving world-class careers guidance for secondary school and college students across the country, in line with the standards set by the Gatsby Benchmarks.

Funding has been put in place to double of the number of Careers Hubs, taking the total to 40. The Careers Hubs model has been based on Gatsby’s pilot of the Benchmarks in schools and colleges in the North East. Each Hub supports a group of local schools and colleges, connecting them with a range of external stakeholders to improve careers education. Read more about Careers Hubs here. 

In addition, funding has been increased to enable 1300 Careers Leaders to access training bursaries. Careers Leaders are the named members of staff who will be at the forefront of making the Gatsby Benchmarks a reality in each school and college. Since September 2018, all schools and colleges have a named Careers Leader to drive these improvements in careers education.  

This extra support will be vital to ensure the Gatsby Benchmarks are placed at the heart of schools and colleges nationwide, in line with the Government’s commitment to have schools and colleges meeting the standard of the Benchmarks by 2020. 

Damian Hinds said: “We are going to be doubling the number of trained careers leaders in schools, so young people […] don’t think there is only one route they can take to success and they are aware of all the different career options available to them.” 

Professor Sir John Holman, advisor to the Gatsby Foundation and author of Good Career Guidance, said: “The Secretary of State’s announcement today of a doubling of both Careers Leader training places and Careers Hubs is a significant endorsement of the nation’s ambitious new careers strategy. The commitment to deliver career guidance to all young people to the standard of the Gatsby Benchmarks demonstrates the critical role this support plays in tackling social mobility and future-proofing our economy.”

To find out more about the Benchmarks, visit our focus page.

For more on how schools and colleges can implement the Benchmarks, visit goodcareerguidance.org.uk.