The Gatsby Benchmarks are a framework of 8 guidelines that define excellent career guidance, which the Department of Education (DfE) expects schools and colleges to meet by the end of 2020.
The benchmarks ‘are not a statutory framework but by adopting them, schools can be confident that they are fulfilling their legal duties’. In other words, the benchmarks will help schools measure and improve their careers education.
Schools are tasked to guide pupils through their career planning, to distribute unbiased and professional information about the labour market; create opportunities to understand the world of work; and organise educational experiences that help pupils investigate post 16 pathways. Career guidance that was previously a responsibility of a pupil, their family or local community is becoming a ‘legal duty’ of every school - a service that should be available to all young people regardless of their social background.
The eight Gatsby benchmarks of Good Career Guidance
1. A stable careers programme
2. Learning from career and labour market information
3. Addressing the needs of each pupil
4. Linking curriculum learning to careers
5. Encounters with employers and employees
6. Experiences of workplaces
7. Encounters with further and higher education
8. Personal guidance
As Sir John Holman, the author of the Gatsby benchmarks describes:
‘I first realised the importance of career guidance when I was a headteacher. Many young people rely on their parents and families to guide them through school and beyond, towards a fruitful career. But even the best-informed families may give incomplete or even stereotyped advice. School is the place where all students, whatever their family background, can get unbiased information, advice and guidance on the whole range of career pathways.'