Demise of the Connexions Service

[JustMyImagination]

It looks as though in my area students won't be getting any Careers/Higher Education advice, any advice available will only be for 'at risk' young people. Without any help and with the HE fees so high, how can I be sure my DS will choose the right course or career? Anyone got any ideas?

You can parent him yourself.

In our area schools advice students on higher education based on performance and ability.

Connexions have gone from my DCs school, but they still get advice from teachers and there is a designated careers person, as well as lots of prospectuses. Then there is always the internet etc.

Did you do any HE / FE yourself? I found it hard to know which colleges / unis / courses were any good as my parents didn't know them. How old is DC? There are a few things about choosing careers and those questionnaires that fit you with careers on the internet. Get a copy of that book about different universities (the university guide?) from the library, that stuff might be on the internet too I suppose.

Have they really just closed the connexions service down? That's a real shame.

Did you see the Ten O'Clock News on BBC last night? They did a piece on the Connexions Service being withdrawn in Norfolk. It looks as though the responsibility is going to schools, but not the money. With it costing so much to go to Uni I want to be sure that it is right for DS and he chooses the right course if he decides to go. Help.

I shouldn't worry too much. Kids getting Connexions advice from my school basically came back with 2 options - Public Services (ie Army, police) for boys, Hair and Beauty for girls. It used to make me so

Other posters are right, you can get a long way yourself online, or enlist your DS's mentor/class teacher/ subject teachers for advice.

I understand OP, Connexions in Norfolk was a really well run service, a lot more than mere careers advice.
See if local charities are trying to fill the gap (I know Benjamin Foundation wants to step up to bat in North Norfolk).

Advice for university courses are not the only choices that kids have to make. I am concerned about the support (or lack of it) that DSs will get for option choices before then - no sooner they get used to secondary school they have to think about 'option choices'. The news coverage last night seemed to indicate the schools would be expected to do it but then a headteacher said they would be able to provide it all.

LadyAnnie, I thought the head said they wouldn't be able to provide it!

Yes - she did. Sorry I was all fingers and thumbs - I'm so outraged about it.

That's awful. My son was given advice by Connexions at 16 and went on to do a degree in something sensible. He has a job to start in October. It's in a subject that I didn't understand or had any experience of ever and never would have thought of suggesting (Civil Engineering). My family are in traditional immigrant occupations (lawyers and accountants).

Thank you Connexions!

That's what concerns me, I can give help and advice but I have no training nor the time to do the necessary research. Connexions were trained to give the advice and (presumably) kept up to date with all the developments in Education, I wouldn't know half the courses that could be open to my DS.

I don't have a very high opinion of connexions.
DS wants to do physics but doesn't have a clue about career. He also wants to go to Cambridge.
He came home with a list of websites to look at and a letter which was clearly a template allowing her to prove she had ticked the right boxes. No careers mentioned, no advice on A level choice .
Better advice and research here on MN.

connexions were also quite useless when ds(17) went to them, they suggested college for some lame course when he wanted and can get into, university.

he felt a bit deflated after the interview

I found them very useful, they at least gave plenty of time and didn't rush. I went with DS which perhaps got the best out of it.

The Tories have shut down the Connexions website and are directing young people to www.direct.gov.uk/en/YoungPeople/index.htm. It's not great, but from there you can access trustworthy information.

As someone suggested, you can ask for advice on Mumsnet - there are a few careers advisers on here who would be happy to help, plus plenty of posters working in particular industries who can offer a lot of inside information.

The Connexions service varied in quality according to what area you live in. Some of the staff weren't qualified careers advisers, and those that were qualified were often stretched very thinly (I had a caseload of 700 before I got made redundant) hence the use of templates and website lists.

Hundreds of careers advisers have been made redundant as a result of local authority cuts. For lots of kids, whose parents are loving but lack knowledge, this is a disaster. Teachers do give careers advice but often lack up to date knowledge and impartiality. It's a real scandal.

disclaimer - am connexions / careers adviser.

Happy to help anyone if you want to PM me. Connexions has been closed down in some parts of the country completely with over 8,000 staff nationally been made redundant. your school / college should be able to let you know if they have gone or not in whatever part of England you are in. Wales and scotland have their own services so it's just england that's affected mainly by these cuts.

if your want advice about yr 9 options then talk to the school but please be aware that teachers need bums on seats in order to secure that their subject continues to be taught and can often have other priorities in mind. Make sure that you research the subject thoroughly before comitting to it. Yr 10 and 11 course contents can vary quite alot from yrs 7-9. If undecided between subjects then make appointments with head of departments / subject teachers to discuss.

same goes for A Level choices unless DC is in 11-16 school. College's usually have support staff who will look at what qualifications your dc is likely to achieve and match them to a course, however they can only talk about their own college. They, IMO don't look at what your DC will do with the qualification once they have acheived it - again interested in bums on seats.

Connexions / careers advisers will offer impartial advice i.e. we do not have an interest in bums on seats approaches and are accountable to your DC, not the school / college. We look at the full picture in respect of how your DC learns, where they want to be careerwise, and critically all the different ways of achiving this goal. We do not tell them which route to take as they can make these decisions themselves, once they actually know about them.

erm, maybe it works differently where you are, Tink, but here the Connexions advisor gets a 20-30 minute interview with the child, at the end of which they get their 'advice'.

Not really time to look at 'the full picture' in terms of 'how they learn, where they want to be careerwise and all the different ways of achieving this goal". certainly no chance to get to know the child compared to a mentor or form teacher, for example, wo will have known the child for three or four years.

Also it is total crap about teachers wanting bums on seats. There is no way a teacher would suggest a child do a course that didn't suit them / wouldn't get them where they wanted to go because they wanted a bigger class.

Connexions were a total waste of time in my school. A child predicted 5+A's at GCse was sent back having been told 'hair and beauty is the best option for you, people will always want haircuts'. Bollox.

Teachers do have the advantage of knowing a child, and their input can be useful, but it doesn't necessarily translate into up-to-date and impartial careers advice.

In the schools I worked in, I found that the teachers valued the careers advisers from Connexions and encouraged the students to attend careers interviews. They recognised that careers guidance is a professional specialism.

I doubt very much that a careers adviser actually told an academically high achieving student to do hairdressing. It may be that the hairdressing idea was raised by the student - in my experience, A* students sometimes want to explore these kinds of careers too.

There are bad careers advisers, just as there are bad teachers, doctors and lawyers, but you wouldn't close down the whole education system (for example) just because some teachers aren't very good.

The issue here is that young people need access to independent, high quality advice - and many of them just won't get that any more.

I agree with you South - I work in one of the top Conenxions Partnership areas so am speaking from experience where it does work. I spend alot of time with heads of year / tutors getting background information on students before speaking to any of them. I've had a couple of strong academic students who want to go the apprenticeship route rather than university and when you see the qualilty of some apprenticeships and what they are paying then you can completely understand where they are coming from but the advice they get from teachers (usually based on a lack of understanding about apprenticeships) is to stay at school / go to uni when it is actually the last thing in the world that the student wants.

The point is that students and parents need INDEPENDENT and IMPARTIAL advice to ensure that they are told about ALL of the options and not just the ones which teachers feel comfortable about talking about in any depth.
I would never go into school and teach history or German as I know nothing about it, teachers need to acknowledge that actually they don't know the ins and outs of all the different options out their facing young people today - it's alot more complicated than it every has been and specialist advisers are needed so that young people don't make mistakes such as starting at uni, dropping out because it's the wrong choice and then still having to pay for it with absolutely nothing to show for the debt.

I think its a national disgrace how the condems are tearing apart the Connexions/Careers Service. All at a time when youth unemployment is at the highest EVER recorded with 20% plus of 16-19 year olds unemployed (2 in every 5 young people in Birmingham where I live!!). The service that offers impartial and independent advice and guidance is being quietly abolished. Asking teachers and school staff who are not qualified to do this work is an insult to the Young People requiring impartial advice - schools with their own 6th forms may be driven by 'bums on seats' rather than whats best for the students considering post 16 options. Schools have not been given additional funding to deliver this work either. Its an insult to qualified Careers Advisers (most of whom have post graduate guidance qualifications) to assume this specialist profession can be replaced by websites or call centres. The Job Centre do NOT offer careers guidance to 16 - 19 year olds despite the tories best attempts to hoodwink the public into thinking they do! We are in danger of creating a 'lost generation' and failing our teenagers if Connexions is not properly funded. From March 2012 there will be no careers service for the majority of pupils - unless you count a website to signpost them to other websites?? Hardly the service they deserve particularly in times of limited opportunities, high unemployment, changes in qualifications and HE funding etc. Its immoral!

I live and work in a special needs school in Birmingham. Connexions Services in this area are set to be cut by a further 60% (after already suffering 20% cuts). Connexions Advisers provide an invaluable support in my school assisting students with many complex needs into a smooth transition from school to further education or training.

I have worked in mainstream school and observed staff encouraging students to stay on in the school sixth form (and not on necessarily the right course!)

I agree Connexions did need reform but their services are needed now more than ever with so many young people unemployed!!

My DS had a careers meeting with connexions this morning. I must admit it was very informative and helpful, but I don't think she told us anything we couldn't find out for ourselves.

I attended one with my daughters friend (whose Mum asked me to). Well, she asked me for advice and I didn't feel qualified to give it. I agree that it is very useful for people in that position. I was really impressed. However, she actually advised her to the course in sixth form which I had thought suitable so, yes, most informed parents and children could live without it.

However, it's the sort of child that needs the advice which will struggle if they don't get help, so I shall be sorry to see it go. It's just kicking those who are disadvataged even more to save a few bob. If they asked schools to identify children in a position where they didn't know where they were heading, it would cut the need but also keep the help for those who need it the most. In our school they see every child in year 11 and 10 - I don't see meeting my daughter will be of any use at all as she knows exactly where she wants to go and what she has to do to get there.

Yes, some Young People are lucky enough to have supportive parents/adults who can help them access support and find information on their options. Unfortunately thats not the case for many teenagers.
Also local and national labour markets, opportunities, entry requirements and qualifications change. Therefore having Careers Advisers that are properly trained and given regular updates, training, undertake employer visits, canvass for vacancies and undergo continuing professional development, ensures the advice being given is up to date, accurate and without bias. This will all be lost with the cuts to Connexions.