The “investment fund” has been launched by the government’s Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) and comes after it carried out research to identify England’s “cold spots” – areas where quality careers guidance is lacking.
The fund is intended to support careers and enterprise projects aimed at young people aged 12 to 18 and schools are eligible to apply.
The money is to come out of the £20 million careers package announced last year when the government formed the independent CEC.
The “cold spots” research used a variety of indicators, such as work experience, work-readiness, and employer engagement to try and discern which areas in England have poor careers coverage.
Coventry and Warwickshire and the Thames Valley in Berkshire came out worst in the ranking, and large swathes of the South to South West of England also had patchy provision. The report and map is available on the CEC website.
Organisations interested in applying for funding have until December 4 to submit a proposal via the CEC website. A webinar explaining the fund is taking place on November 16 and a prospectus is also available online.
Claudia Harris, CEO of the CEC, said: “There is already a lot of excellent careers and enterprise provision in the country but coverage can be patchy. This fund is intended to scale quickly approaches with a strong track record and support areas and groups with greatest need. Building on what works and helping to fill gaps is at the heart of our approach.”
However, Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, warned that the fund was only part of the solution: “As an employer-led organisation, the CEC can only solve part of the problem. The government must provide high-quality, independent, face-to-face advice, careers information and guidance to all students studying at school or college.
“The current system does not work and support needs to be rebuilt in order to provide a network of careers professionals in schools, excellent CPD provision for teachers and lecturers, and strong partnerships between schools, colleges, employers and other stakeholders.”
For details on the fund, visit www.careersandenterprise.co.uk