One striking finding from our London Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) is that, despite some hard-won progress in recent years, many employers still report a lack of joined-up careers support services in the capital. The result is far too many school leavers and adults still receive poor quality advice.
Earlier this month, we brought together careers professionals, training providers, employers and London government for a panel discussion on how to turbocharge the careers system in London, as part of our leadership of the London LSIP.
Attendees heard insights from Ndidi Nedozie-Ansah, Area Manager & Regional Lead at The Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC), Tracy Eve, Strategic Hub Lead at the Local London Career Hub, and Clare Harrison, Development Director at The Crown Estate.
It’s clear that some real progress is being made. The vast majority (93%) of schools and colleges in the capital are now actively involved in one of the four London Careers Hubs, which bring together businesses, apprenticeship and in-work training providers, schools and colleges to help every young person find their best next step. In the Local London area alone (representing London’s outer Eastern and Southeastern boroughs) this means that over 200 schools are being supported by the Careers Hub.
The CEC works closely with the Careers Hubs, including with its expanding network of Enterprise Advisers, business leaders who volunteer to speak to young people to bring the voice of business and industry into the classroom. The aim is to prepare and inspire young people for all possible transitions into the workplace.
Yet despite this encouraging progress, many practical challenges remain. Firstly, there is a small yet persistent group of schools and colleges (under 10%) that are not engaged with careers infrastructure in London. Rather than mandating engagement with the CEC and Careers Hubs, speakers and attendees at our event felt that winning the ‘hearts and minds’ of this group of educational institutions through demonstrating tangible impact is the way forward. Tracy Eve described how many schools have become involved with the Careers Hubs in recent years after seeing their positive impact on other local schools.
Secondly, employer engagement with the careers system remains a problem, especially among some SMEs which lack the time and resource to fully engage. To tackle this, the CEC has had success across the country in encouraging clusters of SMEs to partner with local colleges. From an employer perspective, the Crown Estate is taking steps by working in partnership with the London School of Architecture to help connect young people to smaller practices and mandating SME engagement as part of its procurement processes. Later this year will also see the launch in the capital of Grow London Local, a ‘single front door’ led by London & Partners and supported by the GLA for SMEs and micro-businesses to navigate the skills and careers system through an online portal.
Underpinning discussion of these challenges and opportunities was the importance of collaboration. That was the key message and call to action from this hugely insightful event. Brilliant work is being done across London but there is still so much more to do to help young and adult Londoners access quality careers guidance. Having even more partnership working between schools and colleges, careers professionals, and employers (especially SMEs) is vital to inspire more people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to build great careers. And with the new government keen to join-up careers and employment support, there is a huge opportunity to build a world class careers system in London.
BusinessLDN is leading the development of the London Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), a blueprint for tackling shortages and improving employer-provider collaboration in the capital. See our dedicated LSIP page, or sign up to our LSIP newsletter for more information and the most recent updates.