Careers education in UK schools to be revolutionised

Collins Learning is making a move to plug the long-term gap in primary careers provision by adding the primary school careers guidance programme, the Yes Programme, to its portfolio of leading educational resources.

The simple but effective idea behind the video-based Yes Programme has already been used by over 52,000 primary learners, and Collins Learning will help take the programme out across the whole of the UK in the hope of embedding careers aspiration into the heart of the curriculum.

The Yes Programme will be the only resource sold by Collins Learning that has not been created by the publisher itself, demonstrating Collins’ strong support for the Yes Programme’s mission to ensure that, within five years, no child will go through their schooling without access to a careers programme like the Yes Programme.

“The evidence is clear that both career decisions and prospects, and in-class learning, are enhanced when you make a direct connection in young people’s minds between what they are being taught, and how it connects with real work,” says Colin Hughes, Managing Director of Collins Learning. “The Yes Programme makes this happen in a way that is both simple and elegant. We see it as a revolutionary resource that schools will be eager to support as it plugs a big hole in children’s careers education.”

The Yes Programme is a uniquely curriculum-linked resource that uses video interviews with people who give KS2 pupils a glimpse into their world of work and uniquely, explain how they use what they learned at primary school in real-life career situations. For example, a computer games developer talks about how he uses algebra in his role, while a police office explains how the skill of identifying key points is used in her day-to-day activities.

By showing children from a young age how what they are taught in lessons can be used in their working life, the Yes Programme removes the question ‘Why am I learning this?’ from children’s minds. It’s been shown to engage children in lessons and raise aspirations by allowing teachers to show them the wide variety of careers they can work towards and the skills they will need for these.

The move reflects a growing demand from academics, governments and businesses for careers education to start from an early age, guiding pupils on the right path across the whole of their school life.