Institution responds to new report on careers education

Stephen Tetlow, Chief Executive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said in response to the new report on careers education, information, advice and guidance by the Commons Sub-Committee on Education, Skills and the Economy:

“Careers advice in secondary schools just isn’t good enough at the moment.  We are denying a generation the opportunity to make the right life-choices.”

“With serious skills shortages in the UK, especially in science, engineering and technology, it’s absolutely vital that young people understand the many highly rewarding paths they can choose and where they can best make a contribution to our nation.

“The UK has invested £1Tn in teacher training and development over the last 40 years. Yet, enabling teachers with the knowledge to guide their pupils on the many pathways into training and further or higher education seems to have been almost entirely neglected.  As part of our mission to improve this and equip teachers with the guidance and insights they need, my Institution has made a substantial investment into STEM Insights, a professional development programme for teachers to support their professional learning.  It gives them a taste of the great employers out there and real insights into the amazing opportunities available for young people, as well as helping to put their learning into the context of real-life jobs.

“Good information on jobs and opportunities in our schools is the engine of social mobility. So we are also working with Government to persuade them to measure a schools’ success on the progress made by students once they’ve left school. This would be a much more meaningful yardstick as to whether our education system is meeting both the needs of our children and our society.  Currently, it seems we may be failing both.