Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve adult participation in access programmes for careers in the health and care professions.

High quality careers information, advice and guidance is key to helping people to make informed decisions about their future, including being able to find out about and consider the different options, including those in the health and care professions, available to them. We are investing £100 million in careers provision for young people and adults in the financial year 2021-22. The National Careers Service, a free, government funded careers information, advice and guidance service draws on a range of labour market information to support and guide individuals. The National Careers Service is impartial, and careers guidance is tailored to individual needs, but careers advisers can play a key role in alerting people to the range of health and care profession careers available. The National Careers Service supports this through disseminating regular information to careers advisers.

The National Careers Service website gives customers access to a range of useful digital tools and resources to support them, including ‘Explore Careers’ which includes more than 130 industry areas and more than 800 job profiles, covering a range of health and care profession roles, describing what those roles entail, qualifications and entry routes.

The National Careers Service uses a range of techniques, including social media, to alert people to opportunities. For example, the Service has hosted free webinars in the North West about the range of roles available in health and social care. Virtual jobs fairs introducing potential employees to recruiting organisations regularly take place across England, for example the recent Gloucester Care Jobs Fair.

High-quality, employer-designed apprenticeships, from the Level 2 healthcare support worker to the Level 6 registered nurse degree apprenticeship, support people to begin or progress in health and care related careers.

We are also working with employers to develop an occupational traineeship in Adult Care to support those aged 24 and under into apprenticeships and employment in the sector.