Linking Education, Work, and Support: Careers Guidance and the Milburn Review 

With the final report of the Milburn Review expected shortly, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Skills, Careers and Employment (APGSCE) partnered with the Career Development Policy Group earlier this week to bring together employers, educators, careers professionals, and parliamentarians to discuss the role of career literacy in tackling unemployment and underemployment. Careers guidance is consistently identified across reviews, inquiries, and consultations as part of the solution to youth inactivity. Yet it remains under-developed and under-resourced relative to the expectations placed on it, and policy recognition is rarely matched by investment. 

As we look ahead to Milburn’s final report, here are some of the key takeaways from the discussion that we hope government will take forward. 

Starting early 

Both in our own research and in this week’s discussion, early intervention was identified as the most effective way to reduce the number of young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET). Our Earning or Learning report cited research showing that indicators of NEET risk can be identified from early primary school, and that early, sustained intervention is an effective preventative measure. Participants also reflected on the influence of informal conversations with family and friends on young people’s career decisions, noting that those without access to well-informed networks are at a disadvantage. 

One way to address this is to embed careers learning in the curriculum, a timely suggestion as the curriculum and assessment review reaches its final stages. However, this must be weighed against the significant time and capacity pressures facing the existing teacher workforce. Research from the National Foundation for Educational Research shows some improvement in recent teacher recruitment and retention, but secondary recruitment remains below target, and pay and workload continue to compare unfavourably with similar professions. If the government can continue to ease pressure on teacher capacity, participants suggested that careers education should be built into Initial Teacher Training and continuing professional development. Raising the baseline level of career literacy in this way could, in turn, free up specialist careers advisers to focus on the young people most at risk of becoming NEET. 

Joining up the system 

As well as ensuring young people can access in-depth, personalised support, the discussion highlighted the importance of sustaining it. Earning or Learning identified transition points, between stages of education and into employment, as moments of particular risk. It is at these points that poor data sharing and a lack of continuous support and guidance can lead young people to disengage from the system entirely. Alongside our previous recommendations on better data sharing, careers advisers were seen as uniquely placed to provide continuity and bridge these gaps. 

 The discussion also highlighted the need for join-up not only between education and employment, but with the wraparound services, such as transport, health and benefits, that make work and learning possible. It was suggested that careers advisers could work more closely with other support services, and that advisers could also be based within those services to meet people where they are. 

Participants stressed that support should not end once a young person enters work. Employers, as well as young people, need better support, not only to help young people into work but to help them stay there. As explored in my conversation earlier this year on line management, under-trained line managers play a crucial role in early career experiences and retention. One example came from the Chartered Management Institute, which is piloting an approach in which line managers are trained alongside new employees, building skills, support and trust on both sides. 

Local government was seen as well placed to facilitate these connections and reduce fragmentation. A number of examples were drawn from Greater Manchester, including its Employer Integration Board, which brings together business leaders from across the city-region’s key sectors to share insight on local skills needs, helping to align technical education and training with the needs of the local labour market and to inform the area’s Local Skills Improvement Plan. However, as we noted at our October roundtable on skills devolution, more must be done to ensure good practice spreads across areas at different stages of devolution, to avoid deepening a postcode lottery in access to support and employment. 

Opportunity as well as guidance 

However important better support and guidance may be, participants were clear that it must be matched by opportunities. Some argued that recent policy changes, including increases in the National Minimum Wage and employer National Insurance contributions and the introduction of the Employment Rights Act, have increased the cost and perceived risk of hiring young people, particularly for small businesses. Data from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) shows its employment index falling to a historic low, even as investment in existing staff has begun to recover. At the same time, employers described receiving very high volumes of applications, and concerns were raised about the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in recruitment to manage these workloads. Participants called for policies that ease the financial pressures on businesses, particularly the risks associated with employing young people. 

Beyond direct employment, the discussion covered the challenges of work experience and workplace exposure. Echoing our roundtable earlier this year on employer engagement in education, participants highlighted the growing demands on a limited pool of employers to provide different forms of work experience. These asks are fragmented, spanning work experience, the Youth Guarantee, T Level placements, supported internships, apprenticeships and university placements. The challenge is particularly acute in rural and coastal areas, where limited opportunities and poor transport connections create practical barriers to engagement. 

Suggestions from the discussion included a staged approach to employer engagement, progressing from careers talks to workplace exposure and then to hands-on work experience, alongside reducing the administrative burden on businesses so that a wider range of organisations can support young people. Participants from the university sector also suggested making better use of the work young people already do. Many students work in retail and hospitality, and there may be scope both to better recognise these experiences and to offer greater responsibility and supervisory experience within them. 

Beyond young people 

Alongside its focus on young people, the roundtable reinforced the importance of adult careers support and skills. Most of the workforce over the coming decade is already in work, including people returning after caring responsibilities or illness, career changers, and those in low-paid or insecure work. Better progression for existing staff can also, in itself, open up entry-level opportunities. 

Few adults access careers support, and those who would benefit most, including people with lower confidence, lower pay or insecure work, are often the least likely to seek it out. The National Careers Service could help these groups, but awareness remains low and its budget is small compared with other employment services. The creation of the Jobs and Careers Service is an opportunity to integrate careers guidance into employment support, including through pilots within Connect to Work. However, more must be done to ensure that interventions reach those who need them most. The Lifelong Learning Entitlement, for example, risks mainly benefiting adults who are already relatively secure unless it is accompanied by careers guidance, incentives, and accountability. 

Conclusion 

The final Milburn report is an opportunity to recognise careers guidance as core infrastructure for tackling youth inactivity, rather than an add-on. Our discussion pointed to the need for early, joined-up, and professionally led support, connected to real opportunities and extending across people’s working lives. In the short term, practical progress could be made by building careers support into existing programmes and pilots. This should be paired with policies that ease the pressures on educators and employers, and with longer-term investment in the careers sector to deliver better integrated support. 

To get involved or hear more about the APGSCE’s future work, please contact Rhiannon Tuckett-Jones at (rhiannon.tuckett-jones@policyconnect.org.uk).