Careers programme information
Careers programme information: the careers leader's name and contact details, a programme summary, how to access it, how impact is measured and the review date. For schools with pupils in years 7 to 13, maintained schools must publish it and academies should.
Check this on my websiteWho it applies to
- Published on
- The school's own website
- School type
- Academies and maintained schools
- School stage
- Secondary, all-through and middle
- Only applies to
- Schools with pupils in years 7 to 13 (year 8 upwards for provider access)
- Does not apply to
- No school types are excluded
When is it due?
- How often
- Every academic year
- Resets on
- 1 September, the start of the academic year
Items expected to be renewed each September (term dates, music development plan, governance attendance and interests).
What's needed
Publish the careers programme summary with the careers leader's name and contact details, how pupils and parents access it, how impact is measured, and the review date.
What it must contain
6 parts- Names the careers leaderMust
- Gives contact details for the careers leaderMust
- Gives a summary of the careers programmeMust
- Explains how pupils, parents, teachers and employers can access careers programme informationMust
- Explains how it measures and assesses the programmeMust
- Gives the date by which it will review its published careers programme informationMust
What the official sources say
Set out in 3 official sources:
What maintained schools must or should publish online
Secondary schools must publish information about how they deliver careers guidance to pupils in years 7 to 13. For the current academic year, this must include: – the name and contact details of the school’s careers lead – a summary of its careers programme, including details of how pupils, parents, carers, teachers and employers can access information about it – how the school measures and assesses the programme’s impact on pupils – the date by which it will review this information
Must§ Careers programme information > What secondary schools must publish
What academies, free schools and colleges must or should publish online
Secondary academies, 16 to 19 academies and FE colleges should publish information about how they deliver careers guidance to years 7 to 13, as appropriate to their setting and required by their funding or accountability agreement. For the current academic year, this should include: – the name and contact details of their careers lead – a summary of the careers programme, including details of how young people, parents, carers, teachers and employers can access information about it – how the academy or college measures and assesses the programme’s impact on young people – the date by which it will review this information
Should§ Careers programme information > What secondary academies, 16 to 19 academies and FE colleges should publish
Careers guidance and access for education and training providers (statutory guidance)
Further information on legal requirements that apply to governors (for example, publishing information about the careers programme and the name of the careers leader on the website) is available for: – academy trusts – maintained schools
Must§ 'Further guidance' section
Maintained schools must and academies and colleges should publish information about their careers programme online, including: – the name and contact details of the careers leader – a summary of the careers programme – details of how students, parents, teachers and employers can access information about the careers programme – how the institution measures and assesses the programme’s impact on learners – the date by which the institution will review information
Must§ 'Publishing information about the careers programme' section, Benchmark 1
Questions schools ask
Does every school have to publish the careers programme information?
Maintained schools must publish it. Academies should publish it. It only applies to schools with pupils in years 7 to 13 (year 8 upwards for provider access).
When does the careers programme information need to be published?
How often: Every academic year. Resets on: 1 September, the start of the academic year. Items expected to be renewed each September (term dates, music development plan, governance attendance and interests).
What must the careers programme information include?
Names the careers leader; Gives contact details for the careers leader; Gives a summary of the careers programme; Explains how pupils, parents, teachers and employers can access careers programme information; Explains how it measures and assesses the programme; Gives the date by which it will review its published careers programme information.
Where does the requirement for the careers programme information come from?
It is set out in What maintained schools must or should publish online, What academies, free schools and colleges must or should publish online and Careers guidance and access for education and training providers (statutory guidance).
Changes to the official sources
Dated change notes published by the Department for Education on the sources above.
23 June 2026 · Careers guidance and access for education and training providers (statutory guidance)
Updated 'Careers guidance and access for education and training providers' to reflect recent education and skills policy developments. These include the government’s approach to work experience, qualifications reform and Ofsted inspection changes. We have also included updated evidence and new tools and resources for schools, colleges and independent training providers.
8 May 2025 · Careers guidance and access for education and training providers (statutory guidance)
'Careers guidance and access for education and training providers' has been updated to reflect changes in legislation. The format has also changed.
5 January 2023 · Careers guidance and access for education and training providers (statutory guidance)
'Careers guidance and access for education and training providers' has been updated to reflect changes to the provider access legislation. Updates have also been made following a consultation on proposed changes to the ‘access for education and training providers’ section.
31 August 2022 · Careers guidance and access for education and training providers (statutory guidance)
'Careers guidance and access for education and training providers' has been updated to reflect the changes to the careers legal duty that come into force on 1 September 2022.
15 July 2021 · Careers guidance and access for education and training providers (statutory guidance)
Updated 'careers guidance and access for education and training providers'.
16 October 2018 · Careers guidance and access for education and training providers (statutory guidance)
Added updated guidance document.
3 earlier changes are listed on the source pages.
We last checked these sources on 21 September 2026.
Is this on your school's website?
We check your site the way an inspector or a parent would find it: page by page, against the official wording of each requirement. If it's there, you get the page and the words we found. If it isn't, you get every place we looked.
Check this one requirement free, or scan your whole site against every requirement.
Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4