Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of alternatives to higher education among school leavers.

Good careers education and guidance should give people access to the information that they need to make informed decisions on education, training and employment options. This includes routes into technical education and apprenticeships. The government’s careers strategy makes clear that all schools are responsible for making sure that their students can access independent careers guidance. We continue to invest in careers provision across England to make sure that all young people are aware while they are still at school of the post-16 opportunities that are available.

Schools are also legally responsible for making sure that pupils are informed about approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships. We introduced a new law in January 2018 which requires all maintained schools and academies to provide opportunities for a range of education and training providers to meet pupils in year 8 to year 13. This is often referred to as the ‘Baker Clause’ and followed evidence from Ofsted that vocational training and apprenticeships are rarely promoted effectively in schools.

The department has published statutory guidance on careers guidance and access for education and training providers which explains what schools must do to comply with this law. This is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-guidance-provision-for-young-people-in-schools.