‘Postcode lottery’ for teens after leaving education
Young people are aware of less than a fifth of the wide range of jobs available to them after they leave education, research has suggested.
The lack of knowledge is linked to a disparity across the UK in careers advice available to teens in the years before they prepare to enter the world of work, a survey claimed.
The so-called “postcode lottery” could lead teens in certain areas to face unemployment, City and Guilds said, releasing the figures ahead of schoolchildren across Britain receiving their GCSE results.
Well-known career paths including medicine and computer programming were oversubscribed, in a jobs fore- cast for 2022 using the survey results, the organisation said.
Meanwhile occupations in property and marketing were chosen by only a small number of people even though they may be highly paid, leaving a skills gap, according to the economic modellers Emsi, who created the forecast.
Figures showed those sur- veyed were aware of less than 20% of 369 occupations.
In light of the research City and Guilds managing director Kirstie Donnelly has urged a new national approach to careers guidance, including employer drop-ins to schools and information about which jobs are needed most in which area.
Ms Donnelly said: “We are calling on Government to create a holistic new national careers advice model that provides young people across the UK with the information they need to match their talents, hopes and dreams with the reality of the jobs market.”