Hidden talents: examples of transition of careers guidance from local authorities to schools

This Local Government Association commissioned report helps collate case study examples of local authorities supporting schools in their enhanced role to provide independent and impartial careers guidance to young people. Eight LAs were selected by the LGA and NFER carried out telephone interviews with the key strategic lead on the transition of careers guidance from local authorities to schools. LAs nominated a school in their authority and NFER carried out telephone interviews with senior leaders and careers coordinators in seven schools. Key findings LAs are supporting schools to meet their new careers guidance duty firstly by encouraging the continued participation of young people in learning, tracking young people’s destinations, and identifying those with no clear pathways. Secondly, by providing direct support to schools, for example updates on policy matters and training on commissioning independent external careers guidance. Thirdly, LAs are supporting schools with the commissioning of careers guidance services from external providers. The schools in this study report that what has helped them to feel well prepared to take on their new statutory duty is: being well informed and supported by the LA and local partnerships; embracing the new legislation and carrying out their own preparation for the transition; having a well-qualified careers coordinator on their staff: and building on their current careers guidance systems. Schools are collaborating with a variety of different organisations to provide careers guidance. However, on the whole, schools indicated that they do not work with other schools to commission careers guidance provision because their priority is to procure careers guidance that is designed to meet the needs of their own students

Book review: the new Kings of crude: China, India, and the global struggle for oil in Sudan and South Sudan by Luke Patey

The New Kings of Crude aims to take the reader from the dusty streets of Juba in South Sudan to Asia’s glistening corporate towers to provide a first look at how the world’s rising economies established new international oil empires, amid one of Africa’s longest-running and deadliest civil wars. A key motif of the book is how the politics of oil in Sudan and South Sudan came to impact the expansion of Asia’s oil giants. Marisa McCrone finds that what is most notable and commendable about this book is that it focuses not only on China and India’s influence on Africa, but also Africa’s influence on the world’s rising powers—a growing influence that has been largely neglected

Unions and Constitutions

How do you write a constitution for a state in which 45% of the population of one of its founding partners voted to leave a political Union which it helped to create over 300 years ago? It certainly is difficult, and probably impossible. Why should that be? David McCrone talks about unions and constitutions