In recognition of the importance of career guidance, countries have from the 1990s sought to articulate their expectations of students in terms of their career development. Initially, such framework documents expressed student experiences and outcomes in fine detail on the basis of very limited empirical evidence. More recently, frameworks such as that of New Brunswick (Canada) developed with the OECD, have drawn more heavily on longitudinal evidence while retaining a focus on student expectations. The Gatsby Benchmarks provide a new approach to shaping the provision of career guidance by taking a more strongly institutional approach, setting out the expectations that parents and students can have of their schools.
Gatsby Benchmarks – United Kingdom
Abstract
The Gatsby Benchmarks were developed by the UK Gatsby Foundation in 2013 in light of available international evidence and practice. The eight benchmarks were adopted by the Department for Education (England) in 2017 as the centrepiece of a new careers’ strategy. They articulate eight benchmarks against which secondary education providers are evaluated. These include a stable, public career guidance programme; student access to good-quality labour market information; personalised student provision; the integration of career guidance within the curriculum; multiple opportunities for students to engage with employers in their career development; student workplace experiences; regular student encounters with post-secondary education providers; and the provision of personal guidance to students. Overseen by the state‑funded Careers and Enterprise Company, schools are provided with advice and support to meet the benchmarks and evaluated on their success in doing so. Additional guidance is available for schools working with students with special educational needs and disabilities. The benchmarks are currently under review by the Gatsby Foundation.
As of 2022, 84% of all state‑funded secondary providers in England had reported on their progress towards implementing the benchmarks: on average, schools and colleges in England had fully achieved 4.9 of the benchmarks. Outside of England, the benchmarks have been drawn on by schools in a growing range of education systems including Hong Kong, Spain and Wales.
Using a national dataset of post-secondary outcomes linked to students attending 2 400 secondary schools, analysis by the Careers and Enterprise Company established a significant relationship between the extent to which benchmarks had been met and positive outcomes for students. Specifically, with controls in place for student achievement and characteristics, school type and patterns of local labour market demand, a hypothetical school completing all eight benchmarks would typically have a 9.7% decline in the proportion of students who do not go into Education, Employment or Training post‑16 compared to an otherwise similar school that did not achieve any of the benchmarks. Put another way, for each benchmark completed, the likelihood of students securing positive post-secondary outcomes increased by 1.5%. Effects were found to be greatest for students from low-income backgrounds.
Further reading
[3] Department for Education (2023), Careers guidance and access for education and training providers Statutory guidance for schools and guidance for further education colleges and sixth form colleges, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-guidance-provision-for-young-people-in-schools.
[2] Hanson, J. et al. (2021), An evaluation of the North East of England pilot of the Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance, http://www.derby.ac.uk/icegs.
[1] Percy C and Tanner E (2021), The benefits of Gatsby Benchmark achievement for post-16 destinations, https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/media/zt0bgoa0/1488_destinations_report_v4.pdf.
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