FROM THE CEO
CAREERS GUIDANCE IS A
PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTION
JIM CARRICK-BIRTWELL
CEO, FUTURE TALENTED
C
areers guidance in schools is generally linked to
economic, educational and social equity goals. Its vital
role in helping young people to explore different careers
and career pathways is clearly recognised.
What may be less well-known (or, at least, routinely discussed) is its
influence on health outcomes. According to a study by Edinburgh
Napier University, effective careers guidance can have a significant
positive impact on the current and future mental health and wellbeing
of young people (see p34).
Resembling (non-clinical, solution-focused) personal counselling,
careers guidance helps young people to home in on their strengths,
values and options for the future. This promotes wellbeing, while
opening up access to opportunities that are themselves associated
with psychosocial benefits.
It could, in fact, be regarded as a public health intervention. If anything
highlights the immense value of careers leadership, it is this.
The good news, according to research by the Careers & Enterprise
Company, is that careers leaders are now a motivated and identifiable
workforce in schools, making tangible progress towards meeting the
“game-changing” Gatsby Benchmarks (see p12). Headteachers are
being urged to lend them the time and resources to build on this work.
“Around a fifth of
secondary schools
and colleges
receive less than
£2K in funding for
careers per annum,
equating to around
£2 per student”
However, a separate survey by Careers England, in association with
the National Association of Headteachers, reports that around a fifth
of secondary schools and colleges receive less than £2K in funding
for careers, per annum (equating to around £2 per student). Other
common barriers to careers programmes include insufficient support
from senior leadership, low engagement from teaching staff and a
lack of investment in training for careers leaders.
If careers guidance influences not only young people’s educational,
economic and social equity but their current and future wellbeing, this
must clearly be rectified – and fast! Our mission is to be part of the
solution, and free to schools.
Jim Carrick-Birtwell, CEO, Future TalentEd
Email: info@futuretalented.co.uk
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