Young people and future careers

The Association of Colleges has published a summary report of their survey of 2,000 young people aged 11 to 16 on careers guidance. Key findings include that:

• 72 percent agreed they ‘know what kind of job I want to do in the future’;
• Respondents did tend to conform to gender norms and were relatively traditional in their preferences, with the top three sectors for boys being uniformed services, IT and medicine and for girls medicine, education and animal care;
• There is a degree of dissonance between the aspirations of young people and the current jobs market;
• Young people were more pessimistic and less confident about their future careers, with year 10 and 11 girls being the most pessimistic of those surveyed;
• Those receiving free school meals were more optimistic about being about to do any job they want than those not on school meals;
• Only 49 percent said that ‘feel well-informed about what jobs are available’;
• Only 49 percent of year 11s and nine percent of year 7s had spoken to a careers adviser; and
• 60 percent of girls compared to 53 percent of boys planned to go to university.

To download the full report visit www.cypnow.co.uk/digital_assets/312/Careers-Guidance-Guaranteed_FreshMinds-Summary-Report-31-Jan-2014-copy.pdf.

The UK Commission for Employment and Skills has published Not just making tea: Reinventing work experience, a guide explaining how important it is for businesses to inspire young people, busts some myths that have been putting employers off and gives advice on how to go about offering work experience.

For further information and to download the guide visit www.ukces.org.uk/ourwork/youthemployment/notjustmakingtea.