Our advice for secondary and special schools, FE & SFC colleges, Independent schools
and other learning providers
Getting started:
We recommend that you begin by viewing the downloadable PowerPoint on our Virtual Event.
You may also find our simple introductory leaflet about the Standard helpful at this stage – it’s available to copy and use as an introduction for SLTs (for example) in schools and the leaders of FE & Sixth Form Colleges:
After this, we recommend that you carefully review the national accreditation criteria set out in the Guide to the national Quality in Careers Standard. The criteria describe precisely what is required of all learning providers, and therefore what our Licensed Awarding Bodies will assess in terms of overall careers provision in schools, colleges and other learning providers. You may also want to look in more detail at what our Assessors require you to evidence in assessments – this is set out in our Assessment Guide.
We suggest that you may also find it helpful to contact some holders of the Standard in your area to hear their experiences of the value of the process, as well as the benefits for their pupils and students and the impact of the Standard.
Next, just as you’re used to choosing between different awarding bodies for examinations, we recommend that you review the Awarding Bodies we’ve licensed. Our strong advice is that you get in touch with one or more directly. This link provides the contact details for our Awarding Bodies and where they operate.
We recommend that you ask the Awarding Bodies you contact directly to outline their distinctive approach to the delivery of the Standard (their ‘offer’) as well as the prices they charge.
In respect of prices, it’s important to say that whilst the fees each Awarding Body charges are broadly similar – although there may also be a few Local Authority areas where fees are subsidised – so, please, check with the Awarding Body – each Awarding Body is authorised to set its own fee structure in the context of the ‘offer’ it makes, so it’s essential to talk this through with them.
We cannot stress too strongly how important it is that you approach Awarding Bodies operating in your area. That way, you’ll find the approach which you feel best suits your school or college to start the ‘Quality in Careers journey’ towards national accreditation.
After reviewing your options, you’re free to choose the Awarding Body you wish to work with for the Standard.
Ofsted has updated its Education Inspection Framework, and the Careers & Enterprise Company has prepared a Resource devoted to Inspections; both are commended to schools & colleges.
There’s clear evidence that Quality in Careers Award Holders achieve higher Gatsby Benchmarks than the national average (see below), and this undoubtedly helps prepare for Ofsted inspections, including the importance of “learner voice” evidence that Inspectors look for, as the Standard itself involves significant evidence-gathering from learners.
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January 2026 headline figures of schools and colleges engaged with the Standard:
At the beginning of January 2026, the figures were:
- 728 schools and colleges held the award, 578 – all of which were state-funded schools & colleges in England – of which the Careers and Enterprise Company was able to match with its “Compass” data to compare Gatsby Benchmark performance published December 2025
- A further 216 schools and colleges were “working towards” their Quality in Careers assessment in 2026-27.
So, at the start of 2026, there were 944 schools and colleges actively engaged with the national Standard.
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Evidence of the added value and impact of achieving the Standard:
This analysis by the Careers & Enterprise Company in December 2025 of the “Compass” scores for the state-funded schools and colleges holding the Standard in England showed:
- The average number of Gatsby Benchmarks fully achieved by Quality in Careers Award Holders in 2024/25 has increased to 6.6, compared with the previous analyses of Award Holders showing 6.5 in 2024, 6.1 in 2023 and 5.6 in 2022.
- The average for all state-funded schools and colleges in England completing Compass was 6.0 in 2024/25, compared with 5.8 in 2024, 5.5 in 2023, and 4.9 in 2022.