A radical change in careers information, advice and guidance (IAG) was unveiled on 26th october 2009 at a launch attended by Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, Sir Alex Ferguson, Manager of Manchester United Football Club and Schools Minister Iain Wright.

The new IAG strategy, Quality, Choice and Aspiration - A strategy for young people's information, advice and guidance will modernise careers education to not only make it accessible for today’s generation of young people, but also to keep pace with a rapidly changing economy, and to make sure every young person, whatever their background, can aim for the top.

The strategy sets out plans for:

• the Government's ambition that every young person will get careers education up to the age of 18 in line with raising the participation age
• piloting approaches to teaching about careers in primary school and plans for primary schools to work with universities to give younger pupils an experience of higher education and the wider world of work
• the ambition that every young person to have access to a mentor – two new national mentoring champions will help increase mentoring opportunities between schools, businesses and higher education
• bringing IAG into the 21st Century with better online access to careers advice through Facebook, You Tube, blogs and forums and a new dedicated online mentoring scheme from 2010 to enable young people to contact professionals online
• more help for disadvantaged and disabled young people in accessing work experience so that all young people – regardless of their background, ethnicity or gender - can realise their full potential
• provide support and resource for schools and parents to engage with young people from an early age to talk about career opportunities
• a £10 million fund to support innovative ways of delivering careers education.

New research published shows that children at 11 have very high aspirations, with 75 per cent saying they want to go to university. Schools and parents need to work together to build on this level of ambition and get children thinking about higher education, especially those from homes where no members of their family have been to university before.
It is vital that parents and schools are setting out the options for children and young people whether they are academic and are looking to go to university or are more practical and want to do an apprenticeship.

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