Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made on simplifying, clarifying and rationalising the quality awards system for careers education, information and guidance in England's schools.

The Government recommends that all secondary schools should work towards a quality award for careers education, information, advice and guidance as an effective means of carrying out a self-review and external evaluation of the school’s careers programme. This is stated in the statutory guidance for schools, which underpins their duty to secure independent careers guidance. The national validation, the Quality in Careers Standard, ensures that each of the awards is of the same national standard and assists schools to determine an appropriate quality award to pursue.

The Sub-Committee on Education, Skills and the Economy carried out an inquiry into careers education, information, advice and guidance at the end of 2016 and recommended that Government should encourage the bringing together of the twelve different awards recognised by the Quality in Careers Standard into a single award.

The Government welcomes recent work, led by the Quality in Careers Consortium Board, to simplify the awards. The Board has reached agreement with the current 12[1] independent awarding organisations to migrate from national validation to a simpler National Licensing system. The 12 award providers will cease to award their individually named award. They will become Licensed Awarding Bodies for the single national careers quality award which will use the copyright brand, “The Quality in Careers Standard”.

(i) [1] Career Connect; (ii) Career Mark (Futures Advice, Skills & Employment; (iii) The C & K Careers Quality Standard; (iv) Inspiration IAG; (v) Investing in Quality; (vi) Investor in Careers (Careers South West); (vii) The Humber LEP Gold Standard for CEIAG; (viii) Quality Award for CEIAG (Prospects); (ix) Recognition of Quality Award for CEIAG; (x) The Sheffield Careers Standard; (xi)CEIAG; (xii) The Stoke on Trent CEIAG Quality Award