Primary school teachers in deprived areas of England will receive training to deliver careers education programmes under a £2.6 million scheme.
The Department for Education has today expanded on a pledge in its schools white paper last year to create a new careers programme in primary schools. At present, most careers advice is focused on the secondary phase.
Ministers say the primary scheme, which will run until 2025, will support more than 600,000 pupils in over 2,200 primary schools – around one in seven of those nationally. It will be rolled out in the government’s 55 “education investment areas”.
The programme will at first be run by four careers hubs – groups of schools which work together to improve their offer – coordinated by the Careers and Enterprise Company. It will expand to a further 10 hubs in year two and another nine in the third year.
Teachers in the schools involved will be trained by Teach First to “develop and deliver careers programmes”. There is £2.6 million in funding attached, which will go to the CEC.
Beefed up Baker clause becomes law
It comes as a new law requiring secondary schools to provide pupils with more exposure to providers of technical education comes into force.
From this month, secondary schools are required to give all year 8 to 13 pupils “at least six opportunities” to meet a range of providers of technical education.
The DfE consulted on resulting changes to statutory guidance last summer, but has only just published its response and the updated guidance document, despite the law coming into effect four days ago.
The change beefs up the so-called Baker clause, an amendment to the law in 2018 by former education secretary Lord Baker which required schools to give training providers access to their pupils.
Secondary schools are already expected to offer their pupils at least one experience of a workplace by age 16 and a further work experience by age 18.
Skills minister Robert Halfon said: “To deliver the future workforce that this country needs, it is essential that careers advice and work experience helps young people from all backgrounds to climb the ladder of opportunity.
“The changes we are making to boost our careers programme will raise ambitions from an early age for thousands of children in primary schools across the country, while providing opportunities to unlock talent, think about skills, engage with employers and discover different workplaces.”
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