This page provides all of the key documents concerning the Quality in Careers Standard:
- The endorsement of the Standard by the four major associations of leaders of Schools & Colleges
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- The single-page Introduction for Schools & Colleges
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- The full and detailed updated Guide to the Standard, taking full account of the revised Statutory Guidance (May 2025) from the Department for Education and the updated Gatsby Benchmarks. There are 2 editions, 1 for schools & Sixth Form Colleges and 1 for FE Colleges and Independent Training Providers.
- The updated Assessment Guide, which shows what our Awarding Bodies’ external assessors require when undertaking assessments and our Consortium Board’s Guidelines on Virtual Assessments.
- We’ve also published a brief Note about the relationship between the Careers Impact System and the Quality in Careers Standard as agreed with the Department for Education and the Careers & Enterprise Company.
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Our three additional Guidance Notes provide advice for Awarding Bodies, Schools and Colleges:
- Guidance Note on Gatsby Benchmark 6
- Guidance Note on Parental Engagement
- Guidance Note on Personal Careers Guidance
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Our simple introductory leaflet about the Standard – available to copy and use as an introduction for SLTs (for example) in schools and the leaders of FE & Sixth Form Colleges:
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- Links to our Licensed Awarding Bodies, their contact details and the areas where they operate (please also see Notes 1-2 below)
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- The Brand Guidelines and logos for the Quality Standard, which all Awarding Bodies and Award Holders are required to follow and use.
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Licensed Awarding Bodies – Notes:
Note 1: When reviewing our Awarding Bodies, please note that the historically individually named careers Quality Awards (e.g. “Investor in Careers”, or “Career Mark”) ceased to be awarded in 2017. They have all been replaced by the single national careers Quality Award – the Quality in Careers Standard.
Note 2: With effect from the end of March 2017, the previous providers of those individually named awards became Licensed Awarding Bodies for the single national Quality in Careers Standard.
