Primary school pupils to get top careers education

The Department for Education is working with industry leaders from organisations such as BP and the British Chambers of Commerce, to improve career-related learning in all primary schools.

DfE research that shows 96% of primary schools are offering tailored career activities to pupils, despite not being compelled to, and the department wants to ensure this reaches 100% by working with industry professionals.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: “Careers advice has thankfully moved on from my school days, where I once did a multiple choice test and was told I should work in catering.

“Good careers education is such a valuable asset that will help children to explore future possibilities and go on to lead happy rewarding lives. I’m pleased to know that so many primary school pupils have access to career-related learning to expand their ideas of who they could become in the future.

“But we want to make sure that support is available to everyone and that it’s of the highest standard so that is why we are working with industry experts to produce support primary schools.”

Schools Minister Nick Gibb met with representatives from BP plc, UBS AG, the Confederation of British Industries (CBI), British Chambers of Commerce, the Education and Employers Taskforce, Business in the Community, Linklaters and Greensill UK. They discussed the importance of modern foreign languages in careers education and agreed to form an ongoing network and to develop an action plan setting out how they will support schools to help pupils gain the language skills their future careers could require.

The Department, through The Careers & Enterprise Company, is investing £2million to develop and extend career-related learning in primary schools. A series of organisations have submitted bids for grants from the fund and The Careers & Enterprise Company will announce successful applicants later this year.