23 June 2026
DfE publishes updated statutory guidance for careers provision
The Department for Education has published the 2026 Statutory Guidance related to careers guidance and access for education and training providers, for schools, colleges and training providers in England.
Following a significant update to the statutory guidance in 2025, to include the revised Gatsby Benchmarks and indicating the new work experience policy, this year’s update is more limited.
The main expectation was that it would contain further guidance on the work experience guarantee and the requirements on schools. It was also hoped that either the guidance, or a supporting announcement, would include additional support for schools that may struggle to deliver the new work experience policy.
While the expected guidance strengthening is there, unfortunately there is nothing in the announcement about additional resource support for schools to deliver, though the guidance does reference additional support materials from the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) and others. Further support may be forthcoming, but this is yet to be seen.
In the document, it describes the changes as;
Resources
Within the section on the CEC’s resources, the guidance includes more detail and links to the new OnTrack+ feature that helps identify young people likely to need additional support, as part of addressing NEET risk and other areas of concern. In addition, the Your Child’s Future feature supports parental engagement. Further information about OnTrack+ is under ‘Supporting young people at risk of becoming NEET’ under Benchmark 3.
Ofsted
In the section on Accountability and Quality, the guidance includes more detail on the role of Ofsted and what it considers in relation to career guidance when carrying out an inspection. This considers the current level of careers guidance provided as well as the progress made towards the Gatsby benchmarks. It includes links to the Ofsted inspection toolkits.
The Curriculum Review
Under Benchmark 4, the guidance includes a brief summary of the outcomes of the Curriculum Review. It sets out the recommendations and the Government’s response, which naturally excludes careers guidance as a direct part of the curriculum as careers was excluded from the review. However, it does refer to Government ‘working with employers to create opportunities that bring the curriculum to life’ and to ‘help pupils understand the relevance of their learning to future careers’. The guidance retains the comments about the value of embedding careers in the curriculum.
Encounters with employers and experiences of workplaces
Under Benchmark 5, the definition of meaningful encounters has remained the same, with some additions to the ‘support to provide encounters’ section, including links to Inspiring the Future, Discover Creative Careers and the CEC’s provider directory.
The area where most change was anticipated this year is under Benchmark 6, experiences of workplaces. Last year, the Government signalled the intent to move to the policy of two week’s’ worth of work experience, and this has been strengthened this year. The definitions of meaningful experiences remain the same, still with an emphasis on in person experiences, or in combination with virtual experiences ‘where appropriate’.
For work experience activity in years 7 to 9, the guidance no longer lists examples (such as work shadowing), instead saying ‘Activities should mostly take place within the workplace. Schools and employers are able to take proportionate decisions where alternative venues unlock opportunities for pupils.’ It also provides more guidance on group and class-based activities, and refers to ‘remote’ activities rather than virtual’.
For work experience in years 10 and 11, the guidance strengthens the focus on in-person, workplace-based experiences, ‘Work experience placement(s) should be meaningful, in-person and immersive allowing pupils to experience a real working environment and begin to develop work-based knowledge, skills and behaviours. In exceptional circumstances meaningful hybrid or remote approaches may be impactful in removing barriers to access. In these circumstances, we expect best endeavours to use remote engagement alongside, but not instead of, in-person activity.’
The main language change is under ‘Planning work experience programmes’ where the 2025 statement that ‘schools should be planning and, where able, reforming their work experience programmes’ has been updated to ‘From September 2026, schools should be reforming their work experience programmes’. The main supporting resources now also include a link to the CEC’s Equalex framework.
The section on safeguarding includes no new information, despite this being an area where some schools and employers are reporting concerns.
In addition to the existing guidance on Industry placements for T Levels, the 2026 guidance includes a new section on construction industry placements.
Qualifications reform
Under benchmark 7 the skills training options have been updated to include the outcomes of the qualifications reform, including the introduction of V levels, expansion of T levels and Foundational Apprenticeships.
So, the 2026 guidance is a light update as we expected, with a strengthening of the expectations from government around experiences of workplaces. The CDI is highly supportive of the work experience policy, setting a high standard for the experiences young people should have and offering flexibility to meet different needs. However, with no tangible additional support offered to deliver the policy, feedback over the last year suggests some schools will struggle to deliver against the new requirements, and those will likely be in areas of most need.
I look forward to hearing the Minister, Baroness Jacqui Smith, introduce the updated guidance in her recorded video address to the National Careers Leaders’ Conference in Birmingham this Thursday.
Read the 2026 Statutory Guidance from the Department for Education. Summaries of the changes have also been published by the Gatsby Foundation and Careers & Enterprise Company.
Following a significant update to the statutory guidance in 2025, to include the revised Gatsby Benchmarks and indicating the new work experience policy, this year’s update is more limited.
The main expectation was that it would contain further guidance on the work experience guarantee and the requirements on schools. It was also hoped that either the guidance, or a supporting announcement, would include additional support for schools that may struggle to deliver the new work experience policy.
While the expected guidance strengthening is there, unfortunately there is nothing in the announcement about additional resource support for schools to deliver, though the guidance does reference additional support materials from the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) and others. Further support may be forthcoming, but this is yet to be seen.
In the document, it describes the changes as;
- adding information and links to new tools and resources, including the education record app and OnTrack+
- adding new information on Ofsted’s approach to inspecting careers guidance under the revised education inspection framework
- updating key policy developments, including the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, the government’s response, and reforms to 16 to 19 qualifications
- giving additional guidance to schools on delivering 2 weeks’ worth of work experience for every young person by the end of key stage 4
- revising evidence and data and replacing earlier versions with the most up-to-date information
Resources
Within the section on the CEC’s resources, the guidance includes more detail and links to the new OnTrack+ feature that helps identify young people likely to need additional support, as part of addressing NEET risk and other areas of concern. In addition, the Your Child’s Future feature supports parental engagement. Further information about OnTrack+ is under ‘Supporting young people at risk of becoming NEET’ under Benchmark 3.
Ofsted
In the section on Accountability and Quality, the guidance includes more detail on the role of Ofsted and what it considers in relation to career guidance when carrying out an inspection. This considers the current level of careers guidance provided as well as the progress made towards the Gatsby benchmarks. It includes links to the Ofsted inspection toolkits.
The Curriculum Review
Under Benchmark 4, the guidance includes a brief summary of the outcomes of the Curriculum Review. It sets out the recommendations and the Government’s response, which naturally excludes careers guidance as a direct part of the curriculum as careers was excluded from the review. However, it does refer to Government ‘working with employers to create opportunities that bring the curriculum to life’ and to ‘help pupils understand the relevance of their learning to future careers’. The guidance retains the comments about the value of embedding careers in the curriculum.
Encounters with employers and experiences of workplaces
Under Benchmark 5, the definition of meaningful encounters has remained the same, with some additions to the ‘support to provide encounters’ section, including links to Inspiring the Future, Discover Creative Careers and the CEC’s provider directory.
The area where most change was anticipated this year is under Benchmark 6, experiences of workplaces. Last year, the Government signalled the intent to move to the policy of two week’s’ worth of work experience, and this has been strengthened this year. The definitions of meaningful experiences remain the same, still with an emphasis on in person experiences, or in combination with virtual experiences ‘where appropriate’.
For work experience activity in years 7 to 9, the guidance no longer lists examples (such as work shadowing), instead saying ‘Activities should mostly take place within the workplace. Schools and employers are able to take proportionate decisions where alternative venues unlock opportunities for pupils.’ It also provides more guidance on group and class-based activities, and refers to ‘remote’ activities rather than virtual’.
For work experience in years 10 and 11, the guidance strengthens the focus on in-person, workplace-based experiences, ‘Work experience placement(s) should be meaningful, in-person and immersive allowing pupils to experience a real working environment and begin to develop work-based knowledge, skills and behaviours. In exceptional circumstances meaningful hybrid or remote approaches may be impactful in removing barriers to access. In these circumstances, we expect best endeavours to use remote engagement alongside, but not instead of, in-person activity.’
The main language change is under ‘Planning work experience programmes’ where the 2025 statement that ‘schools should be planning and, where able, reforming their work experience programmes’ has been updated to ‘From September 2026, schools should be reforming their work experience programmes’. The main supporting resources now also include a link to the CEC’s Equalex framework.
The section on safeguarding includes no new information, despite this being an area where some schools and employers are reporting concerns.
In addition to the existing guidance on Industry placements for T Levels, the 2026 guidance includes a new section on construction industry placements.
Qualifications reform
Under benchmark 7 the skills training options have been updated to include the outcomes of the qualifications reform, including the introduction of V levels, expansion of T levels and Foundational Apprenticeships.
So, the 2026 guidance is a light update as we expected, with a strengthening of the expectations from government around experiences of workplaces. The CDI is highly supportive of the work experience policy, setting a high standard for the experiences young people should have and offering flexibility to meet different needs. However, with no tangible additional support offered to deliver the policy, feedback over the last year suggests some schools will struggle to deliver against the new requirements, and those will likely be in areas of most need.
I look forward to hearing the Minister, Baroness Jacqui Smith, introduce the updated guidance in her recorded video address to the National Careers Leaders’ Conference in Birmingham this Thursday.
Read the 2026 Statutory Guidance from the Department for Education. Summaries of the changes have also been published by the Gatsby Foundation and Careers & Enterprise Company.
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