Ofsted expects colleges to provide high-quality careers guidance to all students.
This guidance should be impartial, informative, and tailored to the individual needs of each student.
It should also help students to develop the skills and knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their future education and employment.
The Gatsby Benchmarks are a framework of eight benchmarks that define high-quality careers guidance and education. They are:
- A stable careers programme
- Learning from career and labour market information
- Addressing the needs of each pupil
- Linking curriculum learning to careers
- Encounters with employers and employees
- Experiences of workplaces
- Encounters with further and higher education
- Personal guidance
Ofsted uses the Gatsby Benchmarks to assess the quality of careers guidance in colleges.
To meet the Gatsby Benchmarks and evidence good careers guidance to Ofsted, colleges should:
- Have a careers programme that is well-structured and planned, and that covers all of the Gatsby Benchmarks.
- Show how they are using careers and labour market information to inform their careers programme.
- Show how they are addressing the needs of all students, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
- Show how they are linking curriculum learning to careers.
- Provide students with opportunities to encounter employers and employees, and to experience workplaces.
- Provide students with information about further and higher education, and support them to make informed choices about their next steps.
- Provide students with personal guidance to help them develop their careers plans.
Colleges can evidence good careers guidance to Ofsted through a variety of means, including:
- Their careers policy and plan.
- Records of student progress and achievement in careers education by utilising destinations data.
- Feedback from students, parents, and employers.
- Case studies of individual students who have benefited from their careers programme.
Why is careers guidance important?
Good career guidance is important for a number of reasons.
First, it can help students to make informed decisions about their future education and employment. This can lead to better outcomes for students, both in terms of their satisfaction with their careers and their earning potential.
Second, good career guidance can help to reduce social mobility. By providing all students with access to high-quality information and support, colleges can help to ensure that all students have an equal chance to succeed, regardless of their background.
Third, it can lead to a more positive Ofsted inspection outcome. Ofsted inspectors consider the Gatsby Benchmarks when making a judgement about the quality of careers guidance in a school or college. They will also look at how well the careers guidance program is implemented and how effective it is in helping students to achieve their career goals.
However, it is important to note that evidencing good careers guidance to Ofsted should not be a box-ticking exercise. Schools and colleges should focus on delivering a high-quality careers programme that meets the needs of all students. This will help to ensure that students are well-prepared for their next steps, and that they are more likely to achieve their career goals.
Here are some examples of how colleges can evidence good careers guidance to Ofsted:
- Having a clear and comprehensive careers guidance plan in place. This plan should outline the college’s approach to careers guidance, including the resources that are available and the support that is offered to students.
- Providing students with guidance and support. This may involve helping students to identify their interests and skills, develop their CVs, and prepare for job interviews.
- Keep records of all careers guidance interactions with students. This could include one-to-one meetings, group workshops, and careers fairs.
- Collect feedback from students about their careers guidance experiences. This could be done through surveys, interviews, or focus groups.
- Track the destinations of students after they leave school or college. This information can be used to assess the effectiveness of the careers guidance program in helping students to achieve their career goals.
By taking these steps, schools and colleges can demonstrate to Ofsted that they are providing high-quality careers guidance to all students.
How Purlos Employ & Destinations can help
Purlos Employ and Destinations are powerful tools that can help colleges to evidence their careers guidance to Ofsted. By using these tools, colleges can demonstrate that they are providing students with access to high-quality careers guidance that is helping them to achieve their career goals.
Purlos Employ: increases engagement with your careers offering to support Ofsted inspections, whilst decreasing the amount of work involved, and reducing the need to have as many face to face consultations with every individual.
- Engagement: Purlos Employ can help colleges to increase engagement with their careers offering by providing a platform where students can access information about careers and career pathways, connect with employers, and book appointments with careers guidance professionals. This can help colleges to demonstrate to Ofsted that they are providing students with access to high-quality careers guidance.
- Work involved: Purlos Employ can help colleges to reduce the amount of work involved in delivering careers guidance by automating many of the tasks that are involved, such as booking appointments, providing information to students, and collecting feedback. This can free up careers guidance professionals to focus on providing more personalised support to students.
- Face-to-face consultations: Purlos Employ can help colleges to reduce the need for face-to-face consultations by providing students with the ability to access information and support online. This can be particularly beneficial for students who are studying remotely or who have other commitments that make it difficult to attend face-to-face appointments.
Purlos Destinations: We help post-16 education providers to increase the understanding of where students go after they leave your institution and helping to support Ofsted inspections and quality. This is done whilst reducing the cost and work needed to find out that information, by replacing ineffective methods of communication like phone.
- Tracking destinations: Purlos Destinations can help colleges to track where students go after they leave the institution. This data can then be used to demonstrate to Ofsted that the college is providing students with the skills and knowledge they need to achieve their career goals.
- Supporting Ofsted inspections: Purlos Destinations can help colleges to support Ofsted inspections by providing them with data on student destinations. This data can be used to demonstrate to Ofsted that the college is meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks and that it is providing high-quality careers guidance to all students.
Here are some specific examples of how colleges can use Purlos Employ and Destinations to evidence their careers guidance to Ofsted:
- Use Purlos Employ data to demonstrate that students are engaging with the careers offering. For example, colleges could use Purlos Employ data to show how many students have accessed the platform, how many appointments have been booked, and what types of information and support students are seeking.
- Use Purlos Destinations data to demonstrate that students are progressing into positive destinations after they leave the institution. For example, colleges could use Purlos Destinations data to show the percentage of students who go on to university, employment, or apprenticeships.
- Use Purlos Employ and Destinations data to demonstrate that the careers offering is aligned with the Gatsby Benchmarks. For example, colleges could use Purlos Employ data to show how many students have had encounters with employers and employees, and Purlos Destinations data to show how many students have gone on to further and higher education.
By using Purlos Employ and Destinations data to evidence their careers guidance, colleges can demonstrate to Ofsted that they are committed to providing students with the skills and knowledge they need to achieve their career goals.
To learn more, connect with our team here.