The government will launch compliance checks next year to find out whether schools are meeting requirements to let further education providers talk to their pupils about future study options.
However, secondaries flouting the rules will not be named and shamed – with anonymised national data published annually from next year instead.
Skills minister Jacqui Smith told MPs this week that the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) will chart whether youngsters are getting informed about technical training and apprenticeship options at school.
She said: “One of things we’re going to do next year is… ask [CEC] to map the compliance with that particular requirement so that we can be confident that students are getting the ability to be able to see what the options are for them.”
Statutory guidance states that schools must provide “at least six opportunities to meet providers of technical education or apprenticeships during years 8 to 13”.
The requirement, called the Baker clause, is designed to give them the chance “to consider how studying or training in different ways, and in different environments, might suit their skills, interests and aptitudes”.
Data ‘anonymised’
A CEC spokesperson said the “published data will be national, aggregated and anonymised”. Institution-level information gathered by the quango will be shared with “local careers hub partners on a confidential basis”.
The Department for Education said the annual national-level compliance data will “shine a light on progress and identify where there is more to do to meet the requirements”.
Guidance beefed up in 2023 said targeted support would be offered “if there are concerns about a school’s adherence to the provider access legislation. Concerns can be raised through DfE monitoring, Ofsted reports or a complaint from a provider.
Should a school continue to fall short after receiving the support, a minister will write to it, setting a deadline by which to comply, “to avoid moving to formal intervention”.
After this, a legal direction could be issued. Schools may also lose out on government careers funding.
The changes came after criticism of the lack of enforcement of previous rules. A 2019 Institute for Public Policy Research study found two-thirds of secondary schools were still flouting the Baker clause a year after it was introduced.
A DfE spokesperson said the government has “provided clear statutory guidance to support schools to comply with the provider access legislation”.
It will continue to work with the CEC “to ensure all pupils are given information on the range of technical and vocational options that are available to them”.
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