Much has been achieved in the decade since Gatsby’s Founder, David Sainsbury, first asked Sir John Holman to describe what world class careers guidance looks like. During this time, we have seen impressive innovation in careers activities from schools, colleges, and employers and the Benchmarks are now embedded at the heart of the careers system. We wanted to look ahead to the next ten years of Good Career Guidance and ensure our work continues to deliver the greatest impact for all young people. From January 2023 - November 2024 we conducted a programme of stakeholder engagement, consultation, and research, including working closely with Government officials. Our final report, published in November 2024, includes the updated Gatsby Benchmarks and can be downloaded from the Gatsby Benchmarks dedicated website here.

The publication of the original Benchmarks in 2014, alongside the commitment of schools and colleges, has already led to the largest improvement in career guidance for young people in a generation. Millions more young people are benefitting from rich experiences with employers and there is growing evidence that implementing the Benchmarks increases career readiness and improves destination outcomes, particularly for those in the most disadvantaged circumstances.

The stability, clarity and ambition offered by the framework of the Benchmarks has been critical for schools and colleges. The consistency that schools and colleges now have in language and approach to careers provision has meant that meaningful and measurable improvements can be made in a systemic way. They are the golden thread that binds the entire system together.

The progress we have seen has been underpinned by a strong infrastructure of Careers Hubs, Cornerstone Employers, online resources, and a vibrant career guidance community. This sits alongside a growing cadre of trained and committed Careers Leaders. We are hugely encouraged by the work of schools and colleges across the country and the impact that this is having on young people.

However, over the last 10 years there have also been significant changes in education and the labour market. As we approached a decade since the publication of the initial report, we concluded that the time was right to reflect on these changes and capture the experiences of schools and colleges and their implementation of the benchmarks. We set out to understand how schools and colleges have implemented the benchmarks, explore innovations in practice and unpick challenges that still remain.

Our programme of research, open consultation and stakeholder engagement was designed to assess what, if any, refinements might be needed to ensure that the impact of the Gatsby Benchmarks continues for the next decade.

From 2015-17 the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks for good careers guidance were initially tested in a pilot in the North East of England before being adopted as a central part of statutory guidance for schools and guidance for colleges. More information about this pilot and its findings can be explored here.

In 2014 Lord David Sainsbury asked Sir John Holman to identify what characterised high quality careers provision. The findings of this research were published on the Good Career Guidance Report (2014).