Guidance for Teachers

Gatsby Benchmarks and Guidance for Teachers

This page is for teachers, who as part of normal lesson delivery, will reference the world of work and illuminate how their taught subject links with careers. Here you will find information on statutory guidance as well as links to useful resources concerning careers-related learning.

Statutory Guidance and the Gatsby Benchmarks:

The Gatsby Benchmarks are a framework of 8 guidelines that define the best careers provision in schools and colleges. The DfE Careers Strategy is built around them, and they are used to structure the careers programme here at Corfe Hills.

Why are the Gatsby Benchmarks important?

The Gatsby Benchmarks have a key role in:

• Raising young people’s aspirations and promoting access to all career pathways
• Enabling all young people to develop the skills and outlook they need to achieve career wellbeing, including adaptability and resilience
• Underpinning the Department for Education guidance to schools on meeting their statutory responsibility for careers guidance.             

Gatsby Benchmark 4. Linking curriculum to careers:

Why teachers have a crucial role to play in our careers programme:

• Subject teachers are highly influential – students are 18 times* more likely to be motivated to learn if their teachers know their hopes and dreams
• Students feel more engaged in their learning when they perceive the relevance of what they are studying to their own and other people’s lives
• Students are given the opportunity to develop their career thinking and to acquire important career management and employability skills

Students become more aspirational, understanding that perceived barriers can be overcome and that there are numerous pathways to success

*see The Gatsby Benchmark Toolkit 

Gatsby Benchmark 4 is achieved by employing a combination of various activities. Careers learning across the curriculum could involve employability skills being developed, for example, communication and problem solving, or may directly involve first-hand experiences of engaging with employers such as workplace visits or talks from employees within the classroom.

Resources for Teachers:

The 'Career Planning Toolkit' contains lessons for years 8-10 from WorldSkills UK. A hard copy is kept in the careers office for reference only.

Also from WorldSkills UK is the more recent 'Career Advice Toolkit' which supports young people with employability skills and careers information for KS3, KS4 and post-16 students. It contains lesson plans, videos, and quizzes.

Barclays Lifeskills also has a bank of lesson plans for teachers along with slides to support learning in the classroom.

The Careers & Enterprise Company's 'My Week of Work' has resources from across industry sectors including those from creative & digital, construction, engineering & manufacturing, renewables, and health & social care.

STEM resources: Online creative activities helping young people explore the world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).