Information for schools

Download the new options after year 11 booklet which has a variety of careers information about next steps and support.


Who we are

Tower Hamlets Careers Service provides information, advice and guidance about education and career pathways. We work with local young people aged between 13 and 19, or up to age 25, for those who have a special educational need or disability (SEND).

As of summer 2018, we are part of Young WorkPath – an innovative, coordinated approach that brings together the expertise of the council’s Careers Service with that of the WorkPath employment brokerage team.

The Careers Service is now based at the Idea Store Watney Market, 260 Commercial Road, E1 2FB. Our careers advisers also work in local secondary schools, New City College and other community organisations in the borough.

The information, advice and guidance we provide is impartial, comprehensive and in the best interests of each young person. Our advisers maintain up-to-date knowledge on local and national opportunities and labour market trends.

Tower Hamlets Careers Service has been awarded the Matrix Standard (this is the national quality standard for information, advice and guidance services).

Our advisers are all registered with the Careers Development Institute (CDI) and adhere to its Code of Ethics.

What we do

Our services include:

  • one-to-one careers guidance interviews with qualified advisers
  • supporting young people into education, work or training opportunities
  • specialist support for young people with complex special educational needs or disabilities
  • support for parents/carers around young people’s career choices
  • referral to and joint working with other agencies
  • delivering group sessions, eg workshops, careers lessons or assemblies
  • support and training for schools and partner organisations

Statutory work

Much of our work is statutory and focuses on young people who are NEET (not in employment, education or training) or who are at risk of becoming NEET. This includes the following groups:

  • young people with special educational needs or disabilities
  • young people with physical or mental health issues
  • young people in or leaving care
  • young people known to social services
  • new arrivals to the UK
  • travellers
  • young carers
  • teenage parents
  • youth offenders
  • young people who are excluded or attending alternative provision
  • young people not making expected progress in English and maths
  • young people with poor attendance or punctuality
  • young people who are being bullied

Additional services

Alongside our statutory work, we are able to provide additional costed services to schools, colleges and other partners. Please contact us to discuss.

Virtual Careers Service

We are currently developing a ‘Virtual Careers Service’, where we will use technology and social media to provide careers information, advice and guidance to all young people in the borough, as well as parents/carers, schools and partner agencies. This website forms the foundation of the service and will develop over time.

Further information

For more information on any of our services, please contact us. 

Resources to support young people at key transition points

Please see our young people’s section for lots of information and resources related to key transition points, including:

School responsibilities with regards to careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG)

In summary:

All schools must ensure that pupils are provided with independent careers guidance from year 8 to year 13. This has been a legal requirement since 2012.

Schools must ensure that the independent careers guidance:

  • is presented in an impartial manner, showing no bias or favouritism towards a particular institution, education or work option
  • includes information on the range of education or training options, including apprenticeships and technical education routes
  • is guidance that the person giving it considers will promote the best interests of the pupils to whom it is given.

Every school must ensure that there is an opportunity for a range of education and training providers to access all pupils in year 8 to year 13 for the purpose of informing them about approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships. Every school must publish a policy statement setting out their arrangements for provider access and ensure that it is followed.

Every school should begin using the Gatsby Benchmarks to develop and improve their careers provision and meet them by the end of 2020. For the employer encounters benchmark, every school should begin to offer every young person seven encounters with employers – at least one each year from year 7 to year 13 – and meet this in full by the end of 2020. Some of these encounters should be with STEM employers.

Every school should appoint a named person to the role of Careers Leader to lead the careers programme from September 2018 and publish the name and contact details of their Careers Leader on their website.

Every school should publish details of their careers programme for young people and their parents from September 2018.

For more information, see the latest Government statutory guidance for schools. 

As schools will be aware, Ofsted have released a new inspection framework that takes effect from September 2019.

CEIAG is covered under ‘personal development’ – one of the Ofsted’s four key judgements. It will be considered as part of the ‘overall effectiveness’ of the school too, as well as the quality of sixth form provision (where applicable).

Ofsted's inspection framework mentions both the Government statutory Guidance and the Gatsby Benchmarks. 

The CDI (Career Development Institute) have produced some useful publications to support schools in fulfilling their duties:

Framework for Careers, Employability and Enterprise Education

Careers Guidance in Schools and Colleges: A Guide to Best Practice and Commissioning Independent Career Guidance Services

Download the Gatsby Benchmark Toolkit or the SEND Gatsby Benchmark Toolkit.

Tower Hamlets Careers Service can offer a variety of support to schools in fulfilling their statutory obligations. Please contact us if you would like to discuss this. 

Our newsletter

Read the latest newsletter aimed at schools and other partners. Please read, sign up for future editions and share with anyone else you think may be interested.

Looking forward

We are aiming to expand this section of our site to include further resources, relevant news and research, local labour market information, opportunities for young people, student destinations data and more. Please check back to see new content soon.