Social Mobility Toolkit for the Professions - Equality and Human ...

est practice continued
2 Offer information, advice and guidance (IaG) in a
regular and sustained manner
the context:
� less than 45% of sixth-formers believe they have received
good careers advice and 75% have not received careers
advice from employers. 56
� School-age children need to be familiar with the different
professions so that they are informed, inspired and encouraged
to pursue the occupation or professions that interest them.
� pre-GcSe pupils in particular need to be familiar with
the different opportunities open to them within the
professions, and the various routes – and the relevant entry
requirements in terms of course subjects, grades, work
experience and so on – for each of these.
What the professions can do:
� professional bodies/regulators, rather than employers individually,
should take the lead in providing iaG. one of the prime concerns
voiced in the consultation phase for this project related to the
proliferation of information portals and websites, which, without
accompanying advice and guidance, remain incomprehensible or
confusing to many pupils. Firms and employers might not be well
placed to deliver careers advice, as they may not be familiar with
different routes and funding options.
� professional bodies/regulators should liaise with teachers
and careers advisers within schools, to whom responsibility
for providing careers advice has been transferred. numerous
experts consulted in this project voiced concern that
teachers would not be familiar with the wide range of
professions and their access routes and that this urgently
needed to be addressed.
� once they have received guidance from professional bodies/
regulators, employers should co-ordinate with each other
to engage with schools and colleges. in order to target the
right institutions, they could work within existing outreach
programmes managed by university and Fe colleges, as well
56 the 45% figure refers specifically to career advice from friends, family, employers and
careers advisers. See the key stats section on the Social Mobility Forum website.
30 Social Mobility toolkit For the proFeSSionS
as charities. employers who do not have the resources or
knowledge to target the right schools and deliver high-quality
iaG should engage with charities already doing work in this area.
online engagement, e-mentoring and regional networks can
ensure that information and outreach is offered to individuals in
geographical areas with lower professional presence.
� engagement with schools and cohorts of pupils needs to be
sustained and regular. numerous education and outreach
specialists are concerned by graduate employers performing
the “milk round” once a year at careers fairs, and only doing
so at a very limited number of universities.
� professional bodies/regulators should ensure that the
information on the most popular websites providing careers
advice for the professions is correct, complete and up-todate.
a shortlist of these websites is provided in the Further
resources section of this toolkit (see page 43).
accessprofessions.com
this website was launched following the Milburn panel’s
recommendation for a website to link young people to online
information. this charity notifies young people by e-mail of
regular opportunities from universities, business and not-forprofit
organisations, be they insight events, work placements,
mentoring schemes or summer schools.
http://www.accessprofessions.com
Professions for Good, IaG Working Group
professions for Good is establishing a working group to discuss
how the professions can engage with the all-age national careers
service being launched in april 2012. the working group will
establish how the professions can co-ordinate data and advice
fed into the multitude of private iaG providers, and ensure that
it is both up-to-date and of quality.
http://www.professionsforgood.com
chartered Insurance Institute, Discover risk campaign
in order to improve young people’s poor perception and low
awareness of the insurance sector, the cii launched an online
campaign in 2010. through an interactive website, social media
and a board game, the campaign offers information about various
careers in insurance, as well as ways of gaining experience.
http://www.discoverrisk.co.uk/