Level the playing field with advice for school leavers
THERE is a desperate lack of career advisers in secondary schools, leaving many teenagers utterly unprepared for the future.
MPs warned Education Secretary Nicky Morgan about the lack of adequate advice for youngsters in a Commons education select committee in January. It followed mounting concerns about the provision in many schools.
Last September, a report from the National Careers Council highlighted a lack of consistency and availability. And, in June, the CBI said that careers advice was on ‘life support’ in many schools in England, with teenagers having little knowledge of the workplace.
Deborah Streatfield, a careers adviser with 26 years’ experience, is attempting to remedy the situation in schools in deprived areas.
In September 2013, she launched the charity MyBigCareer in Hackney, East London — dedicated to helping disadvantaged students get the support they need.
Careers advisers from independent schools and universities — alongside mentors from medicine, law and other professions — work for free directly with state schools that have high numbers of pupils claiming free school meals.
Initially, the charity worked with four schools in Hackney, but it has now reached more than 1,100 students in areas including Nottingham, Chesterfield and Clapham, South London.
Mrs Streatfield, a mother- of- six, who is head of careers at St Benedict’s School in Ealing, West London, says careers advice is still ‘patchy’ in state schools.
The 54-year-old says: ‘I’ve heard of students having group interviews or choosing their A-levels by filling in a form and popping it in a box, or people saying: “It’s a cupboard that’s only open on Fridays.”
‘When we’ve been to some schools, they don’t have any careers advice at all. Students have never had a one-to- one session. That’s not a level playing field.’
MyBigCareer boasts former Business Secretary Vince Cable as its patron and is supported by businesses including Barclays, which is currently mentoring 130 students.
Mrs Streatfield says: ‘We send schools a menu of what we offer. They can ask for one-to-one careers guidance, and we send in careers advisers. At Stoke Newington School, in North London, we had 165 student interviews over a week.
‘Before we went, they had a few getting into Cambridge. Last year, 14 had interviews and six had offers. That was us helping with interview practice and personal statement advice.
‘We train tutors and do motivational speeches and stress workshops in how to cope with exams.
‘We cover American and European universities, give advice and mentor students wanting to be medics through the Royal College of Surgeons.
‘Schools can ask for exactly what they want. My wish is for every state school to have a careers adviser.
‘We are doing our best to bring professional advice; raising aspirations to ensure young people achieve their dreams, irrespective of their background.’
For more information about MyBigCareer, visit mybigcareer.org