Unleashing Aspiration

The Government accepts the panel's recommendation on improving social mobility and says it 'will work to ensure young people aim high and aspire to make the most of the opportunities available to them, through an aspiration raising campaign, improved careers guidance and a network of inspirational mentors' (p.10). The Government accepts in part the recommendation that schools and colleges should have direct responsibility for providing information, advice and guidance, with a professional careers service located in every school and college – starting from primary age. They agree that careers advice for young people must be improved and have set out how they will deliver these improvements in their recently published Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) strategy. Local Authorities have recently been given a new, crucial leadership role for IAG. They are expected to deliver better outcomes and more coherent services for young people. The Government has put these services on notice to improve, and they are clear that recommendation 23 (remove careers responsibility from the Connexions service) remains on the table. They will review the performance of these services in 18 months to two years to see if these expected improvements have been achieved. In the meantime the Government agrees that schools and colleges have an important role to play in commissioning careers services and in ensuring that they meet their needs. They expect local authorities to ensure that learning providers are closely involved when IAG services are commissioned and designed. They also agree that careers related activities should commence at an early age.

To read the responses to all the recommendations download the full report from: http://interactive.bis.gov.uk/unleashingaspiration/