Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in developing their plans for improving the careers service for young people up to the age of 18, they have consulted the National Careers Service about possible collaboration.

The Department for Education works closely with the National Careers Service (NCS), which supports young people directly through a website, telephone helpline and webchat service and through a brokerage role with schools and employers.

We consulted the NCS in advance of establishing The Careers & Enterprise Company, and since then the two organisations have worked together to understand where and how services can be coordinated to ensure that they complement each other.

In the spring we will publish a strategy for improved careers provision for young people and we are engaging with the NCS as we develop our proposals. In particular the NCS will support one of our key aims, which is to ensure that young people and their parents or carers can access the information they need to make informed decisions on their education, training and employment options.