Client needs for coherent information, advice and guidance services ...

targeted at them. This point was made, for example, about learndirect and onestop-shops,
both of which aim to meet a wide range of client needs.
508 Several clients indicated that they would like to see one central, visible focal point
and/or a universal adult IAG service. However, IAG as a ‘brand name’ was felt to
mean very little to most people and fails, in practice, to convey an understanding of
what is offered by the service.
509 The picture is different where young people are concerned. The majority (although
not all) of young people demonstrated awareness of Connexions, regardless of
whether they had actually used the service since completing their compulsory
education. Many young people had been informed about the service through
presentations at school, or had been contacted by a Connexions personal adviser
since leaving.
510 Whilst most young people had at least some understanding of the purpose and
scope of Connexions, this did not always result in the young person seeking out
contact with Connexions of their own accord. Signposting and referral will continue
to have an important role in encouraging young people to make contact with
Connexions.
Reasons for accessing IAG services
511 The most common reasons given for accessing IAG services were to receive help with
job seeking or to find out about learning opportunities. A much smaller proportion
of the sample were seeking to change career; none of those we met had accessed
services in relation to an existing job or career.
512 However, while significant numbers of clients had recognised a need for help in
relation to work or learning, very few had taken the initiative to seek out IAG
services, largely for reasons of lack of prior awareness, as noted above. Rather,
take-up of services was often triggered by external factors.
513 The following examples illustrate some of the more common triggers.
• Many unemployed clients on Jobcentre Plus programmes were receiving IAG as
a result of a requirement (in the context of a claim for benefit) to participate in
training with a contracted provider.
• Many unemployed clients using one-stop-shops, project-based provision and
other specialist IAG workers (e.g. community education or IAGP advisers
working in a variety of premises) had been informed about the service by the
Jobcentre or had noticed the service in passing. Connexions offices are also an
important point of initial contact for adults, particularly where the office was
previously the base for careers services for young people and/or adults.
• Triggers for Connexions clients 9 included referral from Jobcentres (for those
claiming benefits), signposting by education and training providers (e.g. tutors),
and self-referral. Connexions is itself an important player in referring young
people to programmes, such as lifeskills training, where IAG is delivered as an
integral element of the wider programme.
• Users of college-based IAG services had often been signposted following an
enquiry to other departments in the college (e.g. course tutors), or had noticed
the IAG centre while in the college and accessed the service direct. Outreach
activities by the college IAG team (e.g. presentations during courses) had also
been a trigger for some existing learners.
• Signposting by a range of agencies (including both IAG and other providers),
word of mouth, and noticing a provider by chance, are important triggers for
9 Our sample only included Connexions clients who had left school.
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