Policies and Entitlements

Developing an area-wide approach to IAG provision requires local consortia and their partner organisations to review their policies and entitlement statements to ensure that they are consistent with, and reflect, local action to implement the 14-19 reforms.

Policies – these focus attention on what people have to do, how they should do it, whom they should involve and how they will measure their success. Check that relevant policies are regularly updated and cover areas such as action to:

• support the September Guarantee
  
• enhance careers education for young people aged 11 to 14
  
• improve careers information, advice and guidance for young people aged 11 to 14 and ensure that it supports equality, tackles stereotyped and traditional thinking and covers all local progression opportunities
  
• support individual learning planning
  
• monitor individual progress 14-19.

As careers education is a statutory requirement in years 7 to 11, all schools should have a careers education policy. IAG and careers education policies should cross-refer to each other and to related policies such as those on looked after children, anti-racism and the gender equality duty.

Learning entitlements  – check that careers education and IAG support and promote access to the local 14-19 learning entitlement. Local learning entitlements identify the learning experiences and support to which young people should have ready access. As the 14-19 reforms are about creating a new curriculum offer for all young people, local learning entitlements cover the full range of learning opportunities 14-19 – GCSEs, A levels, the International Baccalaureate, apprenticeships, 14-19 Diplomas at levels one to three and other work-based learning.  Local learning entitlements are often accompanied by implementation guidelines. These are designed to help learning providers and others identify any action they need to take to fulfil the entitlement. Most entitlements and guidelines include:

• impartial advice and guidance for all young people and referral for specialist support in response to identified need
  
• comprehensive, clear, accurate and objective information about the full range of learning opportunities open to young people, which is available in a range of formats so that it is accessible to all
  
• the provision of continuous and managed support for young people
  
• the provision of a planned, progressive programme of careers education activities, in line with statutory requirements, which meet young people’s needs.
  

Learner entitlement statements  – written in user-friendly language, these tell young people, their parents and carers about young people’s learning entitlement, the support they will get and the responsibilities they have. Learner entitlement statements have been in common use in careers work for many years but may need updating in the light of current developments.

Questions to ask yourself

• Are staff familiar with local developments to implement the 14-19 reforms, particularly those affecting careers education and IAG?
• Do organisational, consortium and local area policies and learner entitlement statements for careers education and IAG complement each other?
• How can joint working on organisational and consortium policies and learner entitlement statements be improved?

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See also:

Please click on the items below to view, print or download.

Information

Quick Guide: the September Guarantee

Ideas

DCSF: 14-19 Manual of Good Practice

Weblinks

DCSF 14-19