Quality, Choice and Aspiration
A strategy for young people's information, advice and guidance.
The recently published IAG Strategy provides a framework for careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) delivery. Integral to the strategy is the need for impartial careers education from age 11 to 18.
The strategy outlines the six principles of impartial IAG delivery. CASCAiD continues to support guidance and education professionals to deliver these principles in the following ways:
- Helps young people to progress. Regardless of a young person's age or ability, there is a CASCAiD program which will help them to move forward. At Key Stage 3 and 4, our programs motivate a young person to explore future opportunities in education, training and careers. Our programs raise aspirations and show young people what they need to do to achieve those aspirations.
- Empowers young people to plan and manage their own futures. CASCAiD programs provide a range of tools which allow young people to take control of planning their future. Via flexible, online access, our programs present all of the opportunities available with information, advice and guidance which can be accessed when the young person needs it. Our guidance tools include structured action planning elements which encourage young people to set goals for their own personal development which they can review and build upon.
- Responds to the needs of each learner. CASCAiD programs are highly personalised. Each young person receives personalised results based on their individual responses and aspirations. Information can be accessed flexibly and the young person is able to choose the level of information which suits them. The programs also offer advice on how personal circumstances may affect choices and signpost support.
- Provides comprehensive information and advice. Our programs contain the most comprehensive information available. We provide information on over 1,800 career titles which includes Work Activities, Personal Qualities and Skills, Pay and Opportunities, Entry Routes and Training, Qualifications and Adult Opportunities. Alongside factual career data and labour market information, we provide a personalised view of careers with case studies, photographs and videos which show real-life workplaces. Our information is independently researched, industry verified and completely unbiased.
- Raises aspirations. CASCAiD programs present young people with information, advice and guidance on all of the options available to them. It shows them what they have the potential to achieve and how to go about achieving it. Through our programs, young people are encouraged to explore all of the potential education, training and career paths that appeal to them. They are also presented with options which they may not have considered before. By showing a young person what they could achieve in the future and by raising their aspirations, we believe that we can help them to achieve their full potential.
- Actively promotes equality of opportunity and challenges stereotypes. CASCAiD programs allow every young person to access information on virtually every career. The only factors which our programs use to generate results are individuals' interests, skills and aspirations. There is the option to add health issues however; these will not restrict the career options which are presented unless they are legally prohibitive. Regardless of the information that an individual enters about themselves they can still find out about any career. Our programs include case studies, photographs and videos which challenge stereotyping in careers. We also provide advice articles on a range of equal opportunities issues relating to employment.
The strategy also focuses on the benefits of utilising online tools to reach young people. All of our programs are available online, providing young people with the flexibility to access the information and guidance at any time.
The strategy outlines the importance of providing careers education from the beginning of Key Stage 3:
"Children at an early age, even as young as 11, are ambitious for their future, so we want to see schools nurture their aspirations and develop their strengths."
Rt. Hon Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.
With 75% of Year 7 students expressing an interest in higher education, it is vital that this interest is harnessed and that these aspirations are nurtured with IAG on making choices for the next stage of their education. Our new program, Launchpad, which is specifically designed to deliver IAG to 11 to 13 year olds, provides the perfect support for this by helping students to understand how the subjects that they study will provide progression into higher education and careers.
At the other end of the scale, the strategy also addresses the need to increase CEIAG up to the age of 18 to support the raising of the participation age.
CASCAiD programs enable 16 to 18 year olds to access the information and advice that they need to plan their career, whether they are in full-time education or work-based learning. Careerscape, for example, illustrates how they can utilise subjects in different careers and shows them higher education options which match their career interests.
CASCAiD programs can be embedded within the curriculum at all levels and are designed to enable young people to access information, advice and guidance at any point during their education and training journey. This supports the strategy's focus on delivering IAG through continued intervention rather than a single event to coincide with decision times.
The new strategy has refocused the spotlight on CEIAG. CASCAiD continues to provide resources which support education and guidance professionals to provide quality IAG which inspires choices and raises aspirations.