British teens encouraged to follow their true vocation

Citation

(2005), "British teens encouraged to follow their true vocation", Education + Training, Vol. 47 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2005.00447fab.003

British teens encouraged to follow their true vocation

Young people in the UK are being urged to become the next generation of plumbers, care workers, beauticians and chefs. City & Guilds has launched a £1 million national campaign to persuade more teenagers to consider practical careers through vocational education. The campaign is launched at a time when 16 to 19-year-olds face much confusion and conflicting advice about education and careers. Chris Humphries, City & Guilds Director-General, believes that today’s youth has been let down in the provision of careers advice, which has failed to furnish the quality and breadth that young people need to make genuinely informed choices about their future careers. He would like to see a fundamental review of careers advice, which should be available for all young people and not only a small minority.

City & Guilds research found that poor careers advice could be cheating school leavers out of quality job opportunities. A study, which focused on the North East, revealed that nearly half (49 per cent) of 16 to 19-year-olds studying vocational courses were unhappy with the careers advice they were given. Despite their obvious ambitions – 34 per cent of teenagers in the region craved a rewarding job with good prospects – only a quarter of students who did not go to university said that they left school knowing what they wanted to do. And it would seem that this lack of direction has serious consequences, as one in 20 claim that they took the first job that came along.

Based on the premise that “The real you is in there somewhere”, the £1 million City & Guilds campaign aims to guide young people through their career options and demonstrate how vocational education can be a route to success. The campaign includes TV advertising, national and consumer press adverts, public relations and activity to drive traffic to a new web site – therealyou.org.uk – which provides teenagers with career and education advice and guidance.