A guide toGatsby Benchmark 7
Encounters with further and higher education
Summary:
All pupils should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes both academic and technical and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in the workplace.
Benchmark 7 criteria for schools
- By the age of 16, every pupil should have had a meaningful encounter* with providers of the full range of learning opportunities, including sixth forms, colleges, universities and apprenticeship providers. This should include the opportunity to meet both staff and pupils.
- By the age of 18, all pupils who are considering applying for university should have had at least two visits to universities to meet staff and pupils.
* A ‘meaningful’ encounter is one in which the student has an opportunity to explore what it’s like to learn in that environment.
Summary:
All learners should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes both academic and technical and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in the workplace.
Benchmark 7 criteria for colleges
- By the end of their programme of study, every learner should have had a meaningful encounter* with a range of providers of learning and training that may form the next stage of their career. This should include, as appropriate, further education colleges, higher education and apprenticeship and training providers. This should include the opportunity to meet both staff and learners.
* A ‘meaningful’ encounter is one in which the student has an opportunity to explore what it’s like to learn in that environment.
Different routes to the same destination
Schools fully embracing the concept of ‘meaningful encounters’ with higher and further education ensure that students are made aware of the full range of learning opportunities including sixth forms, colleges, universities, apprenticeship and training providers. With large-scale reforms to technical education in progress, making sure young people understand the full range of options available to them has never been more important.
By making use of all the organisations who can provide support through established outreach and awareness programmes, you can ensure that technical education routes are given parity with traditional academic routes. Providing impartial advice on all the routes a student could take is crucial. Part of this is ensuring every student has the opportunity to explore what it is like to learn at the full range of providers.
Map out your destinations from previous years and look for gaps and trends. Are students clustering around particular universities/colleges? Did students pursue ‘fallback’ routes due to a lack of information about opportunities? Use this data to inform planning of opportunities and potential interventions for the next cycle.
Career Leader at The King Edward VI School, Northumberland
Harton Academy organised an evening event exploring future education options. Local universities provided information on learning styles and financing options, and a range of professionals talked about their career pathways. The professionals had taken many different routes and qualifications to get to their position including apprenticeships technical and higher technical qualifications. Students could have individual meetings with any of the speakers and parents and carers also attended the event. The evening had a strong impact on parents and carers, with one describing it as “a valuable and insightful event”.
To ensure students understand the breadth of pathways available to them, Sunderland College focused on creating a Routes into STEM event, which brought together employers, higher education providers and professionals to talk about careers and the routes into them. By inviting high-profile speakers, they increased attendance at the event.
Understanding where parents and carers get their information from, and challenging preconceptions of further and higher education, although a significant task, is imperative in order to reduce the potential for students receiving conflicting messages about pathways into employment. Some schools have invited parents and carers to careers events and put time into making sure they had access to up-to-date careers information throughout the school year.
Jump to Benchmark
Benchmark 1
A stable careers programme
Benchmark 2
Learning from career and labour market information
Benchmark 3
Addressing the needs of each pupil
Benchmark 4
Linking curriculum learning to careers
Benchmark 5
Encounters with employers and employees
Benchmark 6
Experiences of workplaces
Benchmark 7
Encounters with further and higher education
Benchmark 8
Personal guidance
Advice for SEND
Good career guidance ensures that all young people, whatever their needs, background or ambitions, know the options open to them and can make the informed choices needed to fulfil their potential. This is particularly important for the more than one million young people in England recognised as having SEND. Far too often, these young people can be held back by negative stereotypes and assumptions about their limitations.
Publications
Good Career Guidance report (2014)
Good Career Guidance: Appendices (2014)
Good Career Guidance: Perspectives from the SEND sector (2019)
Good Career Guidance: Reaching the Gatsby Benchmarks handbook (2017)
Good Career Guidance: Benchmarks for Schools (2014)
Good Career Guidance: Benchmarks for Young People in Colleges (2014)