New legislation for schools concerning careers information comes into force from January. Kevin Gilmartin examines the details and implications for school leaders.

A new PAL?  

There have been significant changes to the provider access legislation (PAL), occasionally referred to as the ‘Baker Clause’, which requires maintained schools and academies to allow external providers into their school. Schools must now provide opportunities for a range of education and training providers to access all Year 8–13 pupils to inform them about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships. The new legislation will come into force on 1 January 2023 (tinyurl.com/y46dnzfc). 

Evidence for strengthening the legislation comes from DfE research showing that uptake of apprenticeships was 16% higher in schools that provided information on apprenticeships to most or all their pupils, compared with schools that provided information to a small minority. The March 2021 UCAS report Where Next? (tinyurl.com/3afa7xf9) highlighted that two in five young people reported that more information and advice would have led to them making better choices. Additionally, almost one in three said they did not receive any information about apprenticeships from their school. 

The new requirements 

Schools will need to arrange at least six encounters for pupils, over the course of Years 8–13, with a provider of technical education or apprenticeships (two encounters in Years 7–8, two in Years 10–11 and two voluntary ones in Years 12–13). These provider encounters must meet specific criteria, such as: 

• providing encounters with two different providers across each year group (so an FE college talking to pupils multiple times across Years 10–11 would only count as one mandatory provider encounter) 
• not doing anything that might limit the ability of pupils to attend (so it would not be acceptable for schools to restrict invitations to selected groups of pupils or hold events outside of normal school hours) 
• not requiring a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check for a provider visitor who is in the school for a ‘one-off’ visit 
• asking each provider to cover a minimum set of information during each mandatory encounter with pupils (so that every provider gets the chance to present ‘meaningfully’ to pupils) 

School policy statement 

Every school should prepare a new policy statement, and this must be published on the school website (one for each academy within a multi-academy trust (MAT)). The DfE recommends that the statement is reviewed annually by the careers leader and agreed with the governing body. 

The statement should include the times when access is to be given; the main point of contact at the school; grounds for refusing requests for access; details of timetabled careers lessons; assemblies or careers events that providers may attend; the school’s safeguarding policy; and details of premises or facilities to be provided. 

Schools should also supply a list of previous providers that have been invited into the school, destinations of previous pupils and information about how a provider can raise a complaint. 

Enforcement 

‘Additional targeted support and guidance’ will be offered if there are concerns about a school’s adherence to the PAL. This may be because of the department’s own monitoring of compliance, information in a published Ofsted inspection report or a complaint from a provider (a dedicated email address for providers to raise complaints will be set up). The DfE says, “It is expected that the vast majority of schools will be able to comply after benefitting from this additional support.” However, in the event of persistent non-compliance, a school would then proceed up a “ladder of support”. Next comes “an expert review of the school’s careers provision”, then a letter from an official or a DfE minister, then compulsory careers leader training and ultimately “the use of the Secretary of State’s intervention powers”. In extreme cases, if all other options have been exhausted, a school could lose access to government-funded careers support or be placed under a legal direction to comply with the PAL. 

Ofsted’s inspection handbook (tinyurl.com/pwdscpzm) sets out strengthened expectations with respect to Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) and PAL. Ofsted’s grade criteria sets out the expectation that a school with ‘good’ personal development will meet the requirements of the PAL, and where this is not the case, inspectors will state this in the published inspection report, and it will affect the subsequent judgement for personal development. 

Next steps 

The development of a careers programme in line with the Gatsby Benchmarks (tinyurl.com/25rp6xfp) is the best way to meet and exceed the rules on compliance. Gatsby Benchmark seven (Encounters with further and higher education) builds on the requirements of the PAL and the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) is also mandated with the task of supporting schools and providers to meet this new legislation. And, as always, ASCL is available for additional advice and guidance. 

Kevin Gilmartin 
ASCL Post-16 and Colleges Specialist 
@ASCL_UK

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