New Technical Education Programme Aims to Inform Young People’s Career Choices

It is critical that young people make fully informed choices about the next stage of their education, training or employment, yet research shows that they continue to be less likely to receive information on technical education than on academic pathways.

This risks young people missing out on the opportunities offered by the technical education options available, partly due to a limited understanding of those pathways among teachers, parents or carers, and others who they turn to for advice.

A new programme funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and delivered by the Career Development Institute (CDI) aims to raise the profile of technical education among careers advisers working in schools and colleges across England, so they are best placed to support young people with their choices.

Careers advisers play a key role in helping young people define their career goals, understand their own strengths and development needs and decide on the right pathway to gain the skills needed to reach their goals. This new programme will raise careers advisers’ awareness and understanding of technical education pathways so they can confidently discuss them as options for the young people they work with.

Beth Jones, Head of Career Programmes at Gatsby says:

“To be given ‘good career guidance’ is to be equipped with knowledge and understanding of all the options and routes available. Earlier this year, Gatsby Trustees encouraged us to identify ways to help England’s careers advisers get what they need to provide advice on technical education and what the changing landscape means.”

“We are therefore delighted to be partnering with the CDI in this endeavour, investing more than £370,000 over the next three years to provide freely available resources and training for careers advisers. By collaborating with the CDI as the technical education reforms continue their phased rollout, we hope to help thousands of careers advisers continue to offer ‘good career guidance’ that is responsive, relevant, and future-focused.”

David Morgan, Chief Executive of the Career Development Institute says:

“For too long there has been a disparity in the level of support given to young people on academic and technical education pathways and this programme helps address that.”

“Careers professionals play such an important part in providing expert, impartial support and I am delighted that the CDI is partnering with Gatsby to ensure careers advisers have access to comprehensive, up-to-date information and resources on technical education pathways. As a leading provider of career development qualifications, training and resources, the CDI is ideally placed to ensure careers professionals are equipped to support all young people with information, advice and guidance that puts technical education on an equal footing with other options.”

The new technical education programme for careers professionals will include up-to-date information on the rollout of education reforms, resources and training opportunities for careers advisers to learn from experts on technical education and raising the profile of technical education among the careers profession.