Careers guidance and access for education and training providers
Statutory guidance for schools and colleges on providing careers guidance.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This statutory guidance is for:
- governing bodies
- school and college leaders
careercareers leaders and staff in maintained schools- academies
- free schools (including alternative provision academies and free schools)
- colleges (that provide secondary education and post-16 education)
- local authorities that maintain pupil referral units
It applies to:
- all
studentspupils in school from year 7 to year 13
- all
studentslearners in college up to and including the age of 18
studentslearners aged up to 25 with a current education, health and care plan in place
Statutory guidance is issued by law. You must follow it unless there is a good reason not to.
This guidance is part of the Skills for Jobs White Paper that sets out our vision to transform skills and training.
The Careers and Enterprise Company will provide external support to schools and colleges.
Updates to this page
Published 25 March 2015
Last updated 58 JanuaryMay 2023
+ show2025
href="#full-history">+ show all updates
-
Update history
2026-06-23 09:30
Updated ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’ to reflect recent education and skills policy developments. These include the government’s approach to work experience, qualifications reform and Ofsted inspection changes. We have also included updated evidence and new tools and resources for schools, colleges and independent training providers.
2025-05-08 10:00
‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’ has been updated to reflect changes in legislation. The format has also changed.
2023-01-05 09:30
‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’ has been updated to reflect changes to the provider access legislation. Updates have also been made following a consultation on proposed changes to the ‘access for education and training providers’ section.
2022-08-31 16:00
‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’ has been updated to reflect the changes to the careers legal duty that come into force on 1 September 2022.
Details
This statutory guidance is for:
- governing bodies
- school and college leaders
careercareers leaders and staff in maintained schools- academies
- free schools (including alternative provision academies and free schools)
- colleges (that provide secondary education and post-16 education)
- local authorities that maintain pupil referral units
It applies to:
- all
studentspupils in school from year 7 to year 13
- all
studentslearners in college up to and including the age of 18
studentslearners aged up to 25 with a current education, health and care plan in place
Statutory guidance is issued by law. You must follow it unless there is a good reason not to.
This guidance is part of the Skills for Jobs White Paper that sets out our vision to transform skills and training.
The Careers and Enterprise Company will provide external support to schools and colleges.
Updates to this page
Published 25 March 2015
Last updated 58 JanuaryMay 2023
+ show2025
href="#full-history">+ show all updates
-
Details
This statutory guidance is for:
- governing bodies
- school and college leaders
careercareers leaders and staff in maintained schools- academies
- free schools (including alternative provision academies and free schools)
- colleges (that provide secondary education and post-16 education)
- local authorities that maintain pupil referral units
It applies to:
- all
studentspupils in school from year 7 to year 13 - all
studentslearners in college up to and including the age of 18 studentslearners aged up to 25 with a current education, health and care plan in place
Statutory guidance is issued by law. You must follow it unless there is a good reason not to.
This guidance is part of the Skills for Jobs White Paper that sets out our vision to transform skills and training.
The Careers and Enterprise Company will provide external support to schools and colleges.
Updates to this page
Update history
2026-06-23 09:30
Updated ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’ to reflect recent education and skills policy developments. These include the government’s approach to work experience, qualifications reform and Ofsted inspection changes. We have also included updated evidence and new tools and resources for schools, colleges and independent training providers.
2025-05-08 10:00
‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’ has been updated to reflect changes in legislation. The format has also changed.
2023-01-05 09:30
‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’ has been updated to reflect changes to the provider access legislation. Updates have also been made following a consultation on proposed changes to the ‘access for education and training providers’ section.
2022-08-31 16:00
‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’ has been updated to reflect the changes to the careers legal duty that come into force on 1 September 2022.