City region will become one of 20 ‘Careers Hubs’ that will bring together 34 schools and colleges working together with universities, trainers, employers and career professionals. Tony McDonough reports

A new push to drive up educational standards to make sure young people are better prepared for the workplace is to launch in Merseyside.

Liverpool city region will become one of 20 ‘Careers Hubs’ around England that will bring together 34 local schools and colleges working together with universities, training providers, employers and career professionals.

Poor skills

Employers often complain that too many people coming out of school or university lack the necessary skills for the workplace.

However, one headteacher pointed out last year that children often arrive at secondary aged 11 having already being held back by a deprived upbringing, adding: “We are trying to teach some young people who, when they first arrive in the school, don’t even know how to use a knife and fork.”

World of work

Careers Hubs are a central part of the Government’s Careers Strategy, published in December. The strategy aims to improve careers education and help prepare young people for the world of work.

The Government asked The Careers & Enterprise Company to scale up a model successfully piloted in the North East by establishing 20 Careers Hubs across the country, allocating £5m over a two-year period to support the hubs.

Access to support

The  Liverpool City Region Hub will have access to support and funding to help them meet the eight Gatsby Benchmarks of excellent careers education. This includes:

• A ‘Hub Lead’ to help coordinate activity and build networks
• Access to bursaries for individual schools and colleges to train ‘careers leaders’
• Central Hub Fund equivalent to around £1,000 per school or college 
• Access to funding for schools to support employer encounters

Asif Hamid, chair of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “This is a fantastic news for the City Region.

“The Careers Hub will enable us to promote the wide range of opportunities for employment and learning to our young people across the region, ensuring they are given the right information at the right time to make informed choices about their future.

“Importantly, it will also enable businesses to raise awareness of the skills and attitudes that they require from their future workforce. Having a dedicated Hub will pay dividends for the future of our City Region, its economy and the people that live and work here.”