Career Guidance at Primary School

In 2009, the Department for Children, Schools and Families reported that they would be encouraging teachers and parents to get younger children thinking about their futures and fulfilling their potential.

This fits in with initiatives, such as Aimhigher, aiming to raise the aspirations of children, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Since 1998, there has been research done into the value of career-related learning being introduced at primary schools for children aged 7-11.

You may well think your child is too young to be thinking about their future career, but this is not about pinning down an exact job. Instead the focus is on being prepared, for example for the subject choices children have to make at secondary school. Encouraging your child to think about what they like and are what they are doing well in could is a useful and rewarding thing to do for you and them.

For more information, see the CRAC/NICEC reports from 1998 and 2000 available to download from the Related Resources on the right hand side of this page.