Career advice brings better grades

Pupils at schools that provide all children with effective careers advice get better exam results and have better attendance rates, a study has found.

Sixth formers who attended schools with strong career services also had better progression rates to university.

The findings prompted calls for a guarantee of face-to-face careers advice for teenagers in all schools, as critics branded the current system of provision a “postcode lottery”.

The research, led by Professor Tristram Hooley, of the University of Derby, compared data from 820 schools and colleges that received awards for high quality careers advice with those of schools that had not.

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The Sutton Trust, the education charity that commissioned the research, said children should have the option of face-to-face advice.

Conor Ryan, its director of research, said: “Those without good networks and family contacts lose out when career guidance is poor. Less advantaged young people must know all their options, whether it is the right apprenticeship, college course or university.”

Read his full report here.