Careers leadership in practice: a study of 27 careers leaders in English secondary schools

Historically, responsibility for career education and guidance in English schools was shared between the school and an external careers service. The Education Act 2011 transferred responsibility for career guidance to schools. Andrews and Hooley (2017) argued that for schools to successfully manage these new arrangements they require a ‘careers leader’. In this article, we report on research in 27 English state schools and multi-academy trusts where careers leadership currently exists. This research broadly endorses Andrews and Hooley’s typology of careers leadership tasks with the addition of a new task around securing funding. However, it is noted that the way in which these tasks are organised varies, with five models of careers leadership evident. The advantages and potential challenges of each model are outlined and implications for the training and professional development of careers leaders are discussed.