Gatsby Benchmarks: What’s Changed for Schools and Colleges in 2025

The Gatsby Benchmarks are a framework for delivering high-quality careers education, first introduced in 2014 and adopted in schools and colleges across England. In May 2025, the Department for Education published updated statutory guidance reflecting a decade of learning, research, and feedback. These updates will take effect from September 2025, with changes tailored for both school and post-16 settings.

What’s the big picture? Shared priorities across all settings

Whether you’re in a school, college, or independent training provider, the updated Gatsby Benchmarks—coming into force from September 2025—are underpinned by five key themes:

• Careers is everyone’s responsibility: Leadership teams, subject teachers, support staff, and governors all have a role to play in preparing young people for their futures.

• Inclusion is non‑negotiable: Careers provision must meet the needs of every learner, with specific focus on those with SEND and from disadvantaged backgrounds.

• Experiences must be meaningful: Employer encounters and workplace experiences should have a clear purpose, include preparation and reflection, and involve active participation—not just passive listening.

• Data should drive decisions: From aspirations to destinations, tracking and evaluating each learner’s journey is essential to ensure support is personalised and impactful.

• Families are partners: Parents and carers should be fully engaged in the careers journey, helping to raise aspirations and support informed choices.

These themes shape the updates across all eight benchmarks—and will guide how careers education is planned, delivered, and evaluated in every setting.

What’s new in school‑based settings?

1. Careers at the heart of education and leadership

• Greater emphasis on making careers guidance a whole‑staff and whole‑institution priority: from governors and SLT to subject teachers. Roles and responsibilities are now more clearly defined for leadership, careers leaders, and advisers  .

• Schools are expected to align strategic planning with careers provision—embedding it into the school’s vision and improvement plans  .

2. Personal guidance & provider engagement (Benchmark 8 & provider access duties)

• Schools must offer at least six provider encounters (apprenticeships, T Levels, technical options) during Years 8–13, including external input to ensure impartiality—even if internal staff deliver guidance  .

• ‘Independent’ now means external, and internal delivery must always be supplemented by accredited external sources (mentors, helplines, employer visits)  .

3. Accountability and self‑evaluation

• Schools are expected to use Compass or Compass+ and self‑report progress termly, sharing outcomes with governors, parents and staff via visual dashboards  .

• The DfE emphasises Benchmark 1 (“Stable careers programme”) as the foundation, urging schools to prioritise it first in improvement planning  .

What’s new in colleges?

While the eight benchmarks remain the same, here’s what’s unique in the updated College guidance.

1. Inclusive language and context

• All references to ‘study programme’ have been changed to ‘programme of study’, recognising the full diversity of pathways in colleges and training providers  .

• The guidance explicitly applies to learners up to age 25 with EHCPs in colleges, ensuring broader inclusivity  .

2. Expanded stakeholder involvement in Benchmark 1 (Stable careers programme)

• Careers programmes must be published online and communicated effectively to learners, parents and all staff—not just advisers and careers leaders  .

• Evaluations of programmes must now include input from subject staff and all supporting staff, ensuring a broader feedback base  .

3. Benchmark 2 (LMI): Broader access and support

• Subject staff and support staff must have up‑to‑date labour market information and study pathway data alongside learners and parents  .

• SEND learners and their families may need different or additional resources, with support tailored accordingly—and advisers to guide them through LMI use  .

4. Benchmark 3 (Addressing needs of each learner): Data‑driven personalisation

• Institutions in this sector must track individual participation, advice given and decisions made—records start at first contact or transition and are integrated with previous provider data where available  .

• Destinations data is now required to include aspirations, intended next steps and sustained post‑programme destinations, supporting evaluation and personalisation  .

5. Benchmark 4 (Curriculum–careers links): Staff development

• All subject and support staff must receive ongoing professional development on how their curriculum connects to careers, even in non‑occupational courses  .

6. Benchmarks 5–6 and beyond: Enhanced definitions of “meaningful”

• Definitions of a “meaningful” employer encounter (Benchmark 5) or workplace experience (Benchmark 6) now include clear shared purpose, learning outcomes, extensive two‑way interaction, preparation and reflection, regional labour market alignment and consistent ESG inclusion of part‑time work as valid experience if it meets these criteria  .

• Extended employer ranges including self‑employed, small and micro employers are now specified  .

• Benchmark 6 now requires feedback from employers after a task or project, and engagement with different workplace staff, plus post‑experience reflection for learners  .

Implementation timeline & next steps

• The updated statutory guidance was published in May 2025 and comes into force in September 2025, marking the start of the 2025/26 academic year  .

• Institutions are encouraged to begin planning now—using CEC toolkits, e‑learning modules, and the Champions hub—to ensure a smooth transition  .

• The Work Experience Guarantee, due later, aligns with the enhanced definition of a “meaningful” workplace experience in Benchmark 6  .

Headteacher & careers leader checklist

For schools, ensure you:

• Publish your careers plan online and share with staff, parents, and governors

• Make careers guidance a whole-school responsibility, from SLT to classroom teachers

• Offer at least six external provider encounters across Years 8–13

• Supplement internal guidance with accredited, impartial external input

• Use Compass or Compass+ to self-review and report progress termly

• Prepare students before employer encounters and support reflection afterwards

• Engage parents and carers as active participants in careers education

• Begin planning for the upcoming Work Experience Guarantee

For colleges, ensure you:

• Publish your careers programme and communicate it clearly to learners and parents

• Provide all staff—subject and support—with CPD on careers relevance and LMI

• Tailor LMI resources and delivery to support SEND and disadvantaged learners

• Track individual student engagement and advice from first contact through to outcomes

• Collect and act on student aspiration data, intended and sustained destinations

• Define all workplace experiences using clear, meaningful criteria including reflection

• Include employer feedback and ensure students interact with a variety of staff

• Prepare for the Work Experience Guarantee and align to local labour market needs

• Involve parents and carers in careers guidance planning and delivery

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More information about the Gatsby benchmarks