The national network of Careers Hubs is to almost double from 20 to 38 after the Department for Education announced a £2.5 million investment in the initiative.

Careers Hubs bring together groups of up to 40 schools the aim of improving the careers information, advice and wider workplace experiences on offer to young people.

They aim to encourage initiatives such as employer encounters, workplace experiences and job shadowing and base much of their work on the Gatsby Foundation’s eight Benchmarks of Good Careers Guidance.

Research shows that the more encounters young people have with employers, the less likely they are to become NEET and the more likely they are to enjoy higher earnings in later life (SecEd, 2017).

However, the same evidence also shows that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds have the least contact with employers while at school.

The first 20 Careers Hubs were launched in September and are being coordinated by the government-funded Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC).

The new wave will feature 18 new hubs and two expanded hubs and the CEC says it will bring the number of secondary schools and colleges having access to a hub up to around 1,300 – a quarter of those in England.

The CEC says that of the schools and colleges involved with the existing 20 Careers Hubs, 58 per cent are now providing every student with regular encounters with employers, while 52 per cent are providing every students with workplace experiences such as work experience, shadowing or visits. It says the biggest improvements have been in the most disadvantaged areas.

Careers Hubs work closely with employers, universities, training providers and career professionals and offer schools access to support and funding.

This includes a “hub lead” to help coordinate activities and build networks, a central fund to support employer engagement activities, and training for a “careers leader” in each school and college.

Claudia Harris, CEO of the CEC, said: “The accelerated progress we’re seeing in the first wave of Careers Hubs shows that this model is working and delivering for young people, with schools and colleges in this first wave of Careers Hubs already outperforming the national average across all aspects of careers education.”

The new Careers Hubs are to be created in the following Local Enterprise Partnership areas: Black Country, Liverpool, Tees Valley, Leeds, Solent, West of England, Birmingham, Thames Valley Berkshire, two in the North East, Dorset, Swindon & Wiltshire, SEMLEP (South East Midlands), Hertfordshire, Heart of the South West, D2N2 (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire), Solihull, Coventry, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire.

Elsewhere this week, UCAS has launched its new UCAS Portal for teachers and careers advisors to manage and track their students’ university and college applications.

The 2020 application cycle launched earlier this week and the new and free UCAS advisor portal replaces the Apply for Advisers and Adviser Track services.

Students were able to begin their applications for courses starting in September 2020 from Tuesday (May 21) and can submit them from September 4. The application deadlines are October 15, 2019, and January 15, 2020, depending on the course.