The Heart of the South West is to become one of 20 ‘Careers Hubs’ around England to help transform careers education for young people.
The Heart of the South West Careers Hubs will be made up of 40 local schools and colleges working together with universities, training providers, employers and career professionals to improve careers education.
Careers Hubs are a central part of the Government’s Careers Strategy, published in December. The strategy aims to improve careers education and help prepare young people for the world of work.
The Government asked The Careers & Enterprise Company to scale up a model successfully piloted in the North East by establishing 20 Careers Hubs across the country, allocating £5 million over a two-year period to support the Hubs.
The Heart of the South West Hub will have access to support and funding to help them meet the eight Gatsby Benchmarks of excellent careers education. This includes:
- A ‘Hub Lead’ to help coordinate activity and build networks
- Access to bursaries for individual schools and colleges to train ‘careers leaders’
- Central Hub Fund equivalent to around £1k per school or college
- Access to funding for schools to support employer encounters
Steve Hindley, CBE DL said: “I’m delighted that the Heart of the South West has been selected to benefit from a Careers Hub. Providing young people with effective career advice and guidance and bringing business and schools closer together are key pathways to helping our young people achieve their potential. Businesses tell us that skills are the highest priority affecting their potential for growth, so a highly skilled workforce helps raise productivity too.â€
Claudia Harris, Chief Executive of The Careers & Enterprise Company, said:
“We’re excited by the potential impact of the Hubs. If employers, schools and colleges can better prepare young people for the world of work, we’re not just benefiting the future economy, but improving prospects for thousands of young people.â€
