National Careers Service

The National Careers Service is the publicly funded careers service for adults and young people (aged 13 or over) in England.

Launched in April 2012, it brings together elements of previous publicly funded careers services for adults and young people.

The launch was reported by the BBC and commented on by organisations such as NIACE, the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services, and NAEGA.

The National Careers Service provides information, advice and guidance on learning, training, career choice, career development, job search, and the labour market. It can be accessed online, by telephone, and face to face (for people aged 19 and over).

The aims of the service are to provide:

The idea of a careers service for everyone aged 13 and over was raised in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills strategy document ‘Investing in Skills for Sustainable Growth’ published in November 2010. Plans for the new service were laid out in a further document, ‘New Challenges, New Chances: Further Education and Skills System Reform Plan: Building a World Class Skills System’, published December 2011.

Prior to the National Careers Service, the publicly funded careers service for adults in England was known as Next Step.

Next Step launched on 1 August 2010 and for the first time fully integrated the web-based, telephone-based and local face to face careers services for adults.

Telephone and web-based advice for young people was previously provided through Connexions Direct, which was part of the wider Connexions service.

The National Careers Service is funded and managed by the Skills Funding Agency, a partner agency of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

The remit of the National Careers Service is to provide “information, advice and guidance to help [customers] make decisions on learning, training and work opportunities. The service offers confidential, helpful and impartial advice, supported by qualified careers advisers.”

This includes support with:

The service also participates in national learning campaigns such as Adult Learners' Week.

The National Careers Service offer is available throughout England, with devolved responsibility for careers advice in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Publicly funded careers services for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are provided by Careers Service Northern Ireland,Skills Development Scotland and Careers Wales respectively, while there is also a dedicated careers service for the Isle of Man.

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Wikipedia