Who this applies to
The Department for Education's (DfE's) statutory careers guidance is for governing bodies, school leaders, careers leaders and staff in:
- All maintained schools, including maintained special schools and pupil referral units (PRUs)
- Academies and free schools (including alternative provision academies and free schools)
- Colleges that provide secondary education and post-16 education
The guidance applies to:
- All pupils in school from year 7 to year 13
- All pupils in colleges up to and including the age of 18
- Pupils aged up to 25 with an education, health and care (EHC) plan
The requirements don't apply to non-maintained special schools and independent schools.
If you're in a multi-academy trust, the guidance applies to each academy. Some trusts align their careers plan and education across each school.
Your school's/trust's duties
Have a strategic careers plan
Your board should provide clear advice to your school leaders on which they can base a strategic careers plan. The plan should be developed in line with the Gatsby Benchmarks (see below) and the DfE’s guidance.
It should show how your careers programme will be:
- Implemented
- Measured – including how your school/trust will assess pupil impact
Provide independent careers guidance for all pupils
Your board must make sure your school/trust provides independent careers guidance to all secondary pupils (11 to 18-year-olds) and pupils aged up to 25 with an EHC plan. The guidance should:
- Be presented in an impartial manner
- Feature information on the range of education or training options, including apprenticeships and other vocational pathways
- Schools/trusts shouldn’t show bias towards an academic or technical route, but instead help pupils understand the range of options available – read more in 'Providing independent careers guidance' in the DfE’s guidance for more details
- Promote the best interests of all pupils
This is explained under 'What the governing body is expected to do' in the guidance, section 29 of the Education Act 2011 (maintained schools) and in point 2.27 of the DfE's model funding agreements for academies.
Provide work experience for KS3, KS4 and KS5
Work experience isn't statutory, but it is expected. It should be meaningful and part of a structured programme that allows pupils to explore what it is like to work in that field. Find out more about what 'meaningful' work experience looks like in the guidance, under Benchmark 6: Experiences of workplaces.
Key Stage (KS) 3
From September 2025, your school/trust should start planning to incorporate 1 week's worth of work experience activities for pupils in years 7 to 9.
Note: your school/trust doesn't need to have this in place by September 2025, but should be planning these changes from September.
Pupils should take part in multiple, varied and meaningful employer-led activities, such as:
- Multi-day work visits with employer-set tasks or projects
- Work shadowing
- Employer talks, including technical demonstrations or tours of working premises (these could be in-person or virtual)
Read 'Benchmark 6: experiences of workplaces' in the DfE's guidance, linked above, for more details.
KS4
Your school/trust is expected to provide 1 week's worth of work experience placement(s) in years 10 to 11.
Placements:
- Could be with more than 1 employer, irrespective of sector
- Could be spread across a number of days or weeks at any point during years 10 and 11
- Should be in person, unless there are exceptional circumstances
This is explained in the guidance linked above.
KS5
Students on 16-to-19 study programmes are expected to do work experience or some form of work-related training as part of their study programme's 'non-qualification activity'.
This is explained under 'main points' and 'study programme principles' in DfE guidance on post-16 work experience.
Publish a provider access policy statement
Your school must prepare and publish a policy statement setting out the circumstances in which education and training providers will be given access to pupils.
The statement must be on every school's website and must include:
- Any procedural requirements about requests for access
- When access is to be given (including grounds for granting/refusing requests and the times access can be given)
- Details of premises/facilities available to a person who is given access
- How your school will meet the requirement that pupils in years 8 to 13 receive at least 6 encounters with a provider of technical education or apprenticeships
The full policy requirements are set out under 'Provider access policy statement' in the DfE's guidance.
See our articles on how to review your careers guidance policy and your provider access policy statement.
Multi-academy trusts can set this policy centrally, but the statement should be published and adapted by each academy – the main contact and facilities provided need to match each school.
Work together with providers
Your school/trust should ask each provider of technical education or apprenticeships to tell pupils about:
- The approved qualifications or apprenticeships they offer
- What careers those qualifications and apprenticeships can lead to
- What learning or training with the provider is like
Providers should also answers any pupil questions.
This is explained under 'Provider access legislation' in the statutory careers guidance.
Publish details of careers programmes on your website
Maintained schools must and academies should do this.
For maintained schools, this must include the name and contact details of your school’s careers leader and be available for young people and their parents/carers.
Find out what else must be published on your school’s or trust's website with our school website checklists.
Meet the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks in full
The Gatsby Benchmarks set out what high-quality careers guidance looks like. Your school/trust is expected to meet them in full to improve careers provision.
They were updated in November 2024 as part of Gatsby's report, and your school/trust is expected to follow the updated benchmarks from September 2025.
The benchmarks are summarised below.
Your duties as a governing board or trust board
Your board must make sure your school/trust meets the minimum requirements on provider access and encounters (see above), and that it has a provider access policy statement in place.
Your board should explicitly back your school's/trust's careers programme, and you should be “actively engaged” in setting the direction for a whole-institution approach to careers guidance.
Nominate a 'careers' link governor or trustee
You should have a person on your board who will be your 'expert' in this area and 'take a strategic interest in careers education/guidance and encourage employer engagement'.
This is covered in 'What the governing body is expected to do' in the DfE’s guidance.
Find out more about the role of the careers link governor.
Monitor your school's/trust's careers guidance
To do this:
- Ask your headteacher or trust leader to include information about it in the headteacher's report or CEO's report
- Establish a separate agenda item to discuss the topic
- Use the updated Gatsby Benchmarks – summarised below – to help you scrutinise your school's or trust's provision
- Ask your senior leadership team (SLT) to use the Compass careers benchmark tool to evaluate your school's provision relative to the Gatsby Benchmarks
Your school leaders should be able to demonstrate that careers guidance meets the requirements set out above, of:
- Being developed in line with the Gatsby Benchmarks
- Being impartial
- Featuring information on the range of education or training options
- Promoting pupils' best interests
Read the DfE's guidance so you're clear on your role and the duties placed on your school or trust. This will help you monitor effectively.
The Gatsby Benchmarks: summarised
You can read more about the updated benchmarks in Gatsby's report (see section 4, pages 28 to 31).
Ofsted's expectations
As part of the 'personal development and wellbeing' judgement, inspectors will evaluate the quality of your school’s careers provision.
Inspectors will consider the extent to which:
- Leaders ensure that all secondary-age pupils are well prepared and supported to progress in education, employment or training, including continuing in education or training until at least their 18th birthday
- Where relevant, there is an appropriate careers programme that meets the Gatsby Benchmarks and includes impartial advice and guidance from a qualified careers adviser, opportunities for workplace experiences, and engagement with employers, colleges, training providers and universities
- Secondary-age pupils have an appropriate understanding of relevant trends in local and national employment and the implications of the choices they make in relation to these
- Pupils with SEND develop independence, contribute to their community, make positive friendships and are supported to be as healthy as possible
This is explained on page 48 of the State-funded Schools Inspection Toolkit. To find out more about where careers provision sits within the grading criteria, read our article on how Ofsted inspects personal development and wellbeing.
Sixth forms
If your school has a sixth form, inspectors will also look at your careers programme when evaluating the post-16 provision judgement area.
Inspectors will consider the extent to which:
- Leaders make sure all students are well-prepared and supported to progress into education, employment or training, including continuing in education or training until at least their 18th birthday
- The work-related learning and careers programme:
- Meets the 16 to 19 study programmes requirements
- Is well planned and relevant
- Includes high-quality work experience
- Students have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and skills that are valued in the workplace
- Post-16 provision enables some students with SEND to develop their independent living skills to prepare them for later life
- Leaders have established effective partnerships with local employers and with further and higher education institutions to prepare students for their next steps
- Students are aware of the academic, technical and work-related opportunities open to them
- Students have an appropriate understanding of trends in local and national employment and the implications of the choices they make in relation to these
This is set out on page 66 of the State-funded Schools Inspection Toolkit. To see how careers guidance fits into the grading criteria, read our article on how Ofsted inspects post-16 provision.