What is a careers hub?

Careers Hubs are an important part of the careers education infrastructure for 11-18 year olds in England. Run by the Careers and Enterprise Company – the national body for careers education - in partnership with local organisations, they are designed to:

• Bring together school and college careers leaders to share best practice and work on shared priorities – creating communities of practice where approaches and thinking constantly evolve
• Connect local employers to foster effective partnerships with schools and colleges to provide high quality future talent insights
• Work strategically across an area with a range of stakeholders to align with local education, work and skills priorities through strong partnerships
• Demonstrate the impact of careers education on the career readiness, education and employment outcomes of young people

Careers Hubs are committed to:

• Amplifying technical and vocational routes so young people know about all the options
• Supporting effective transitions from education to work, further study or training.
• Removing barriers for young people. Career Hubs prioritise tackling disadvantage in partnership with local employers.

The Gatsby Benchmarks and the ‘Baker Clause’

Our work with schools and colleges is framed by the Gatsby Benchmarks – the national framework for organising the careers provision of a school or college. Details of the relevant expectations are listed below:

• Every student, whatever their ambitions, should have the opportunity to explore what it is like to learn at the full range of learning providers, including colleges, universities, apprenticeship and training providers, University Technical Colleges (UTCs) and Studio Schools.
• Students should have the opportunity to hear directly from providers, so they can build up a full picture of the options available and consider how the opportunity to study or train in different ways, and in different environments, might suit their skills, interests and aptitudes.

In addition, schools have a legal duty, commonly known as the ‘Baker Clause’, which requires all maintained schools and academies to ensure that there is an opportunity for a range of education and training providers to access all year 8 to 13 students for the purpose of informing them about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.  We make all schools aware of their responsibility to do so and support them in providing clear guidance on provider access.

The Careers Hub does not have the power to enforce provider access into schools and colleges, however we are committed to using our network to support high quality careers provision for young people. The Careers Hub will therefore:

• Liaise with providers to discuss their provision and offer to schools and colleges
• Consider ways in which the provider and Careers Hub can work together to address gaps
• Broker introductions to relevant Careers Leaders (where appropriate)
• Where possible include providers in a local directory (if one is available) of vocational provision which is shared with schools
• Advise school leaders in a Hub about the implementation of the Baker Clause
• Deploy Enterprise Coordinators and Enterprise Advisers to support schools and colleges to develop partnerships and programmes which allow students to explore all pathways.