Vocational Guidance: Feltham and Heston

(asked on 15th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support (a) mentoring programmes and (b) the provision of careers advice for young people in education in Feltham and Heston constituency.


Answered by
Gillian Keegan Portrait
Gillian Keegan
Secretary of State for Education
This question was answered on 20th July 2021

Mentoring is an important element of careers programmes. The government funds support for secondary schools and colleges in England, via the Careers & Enterprise Company’s (CEC) Enterprise Adviser Network and Careers Hubs, to make progress towards meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance. This includes increasing young people’s exposure to employers and the world of work and supporting schools and colleges to make links with providers and employers that offer mentoring opportunities.

Through CEC’s ‘Give an Hour’ initiative, individual volunteers, groups of employees or entire businesses can volunteer to share their career journey and insights with young people in schools and colleges in their local community.

Cornerstone Employers are local and national businesses from a range of sectors that are experienced and have a strong track record of engaging with education. They drive leadership and strategic support within their communities to bring together business effort and engagement with local schools and colleges. They have a commitment to work with schools and colleges to offer more young people meaningful employer encounters through activities such as mentoring, work experience, mock interviews and careers talks. There are currently over 200 Cornerstone Employers.

Enterprise Advisers (EAs) are senior business volunteers that are matched locally with an individual school or college. EAs use their business experience and professional network to help senior leadership teams to develop their careers programme and create opportunities for young people to meet with employers.

The National Careers Service offers expert career coaching and guidance in the community, online and on the telephone.

The London Enterprise Adviser Network (EAN) connects schools and colleges with employers and entrepreneurs so that all young Londoners are aware of the career pathways and opportunities available to them. Over 500 London schools and colleges are part of the London EAN. They are supported by nearly 600 volunteer EAs from different industry sectors and professional backgrounds. The network is co-funded by the CEC and the Mayor of London. In West London, it is delivered by Reed In Partnership and Talentino in special schools and colleges. Careers Hubs will be launched in London in September 2021.

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