Thank you for using Compass - the careers benchmark tool. The results from your most recent use of the tool are below. We hope you will use them to plan and track the development of your school career strategy. We recommend discussing these results with colleagues to help you build your school career plan. You can use the tool again in the future to see how you are progressing against the Gatsby benchmarks.
Whatever your results you might find it useful to read the Gatsby Good Career Guidance report which outlines the benchmarks in more detail. There are lots of organisations that can help you with your career guidance activity in schools, the Gatsby website has a short list of organisations to get you started. The Careers and Enterprise Company also offer support to schools, particularly engagement with employers. You can find out more here.
We recommend that you log back into Compass every year to track your progress, but you can use it at any time:

Compass - Careers Benchmark Tool:The results for your school / institution

Thank you for taking the time to reflect on your careers guidance practice. Your results should help you identify where you can build on your strengths, and where improvements are most needed. When you want to check the progress you are making, the tool can be used again and will show how your latest results compare to previous ones. In time, you will also be able to see how you compare to other schools, particularly those with similar starting points.
Green means you have met the benchmark, amber that you have partially met it, and red that you have not met the benchmark.
A stable careers programme / / /
Learning from career and labour market information / / /
Addressing the needs of each pupil / / /
Linking curriculum learning to careers / / /
Encounters with employers and employees / / /
Experiences of workplaces / / /
Encounters with further and higher education / / /
Personal guidance / / /

Areas for potential improvement

Following are the areas where your school did not achieve elements contributing to the Gatsby benchmarks:
A stable careers programme
  • Having a whole-school careers programme that has the explicit backing of senior leadership
  • Having a whole-school careers programme that is systematically monitored
  • Publishing your career programme on your website
  • Having information on your website about your careers programme aimed specifically at students
  • Having information on your website about your careers programme aimed specifically at teachers
  • Having information on your website about your careers programme aimed specifically at employers
  • Having information on your website about your careers programme aimed specifically at parents / carers
  • Delivering independent and impartial careers guidance (including options about both in-school academic provision and external vocational provision) to all / the overwhelming majority of pupils (in year 8 and after)
  • Evaluating your careers programme using systematic feedback from students
  • Evaluating your careers programme using systematic feedback from teachers
  • Evaluating your careers programme using systematic feedback from employers
  • Evaluating your careers programme using systematic feedback from parents/carers
  • Evaluating your careers programme using systematic feedback from senior leaders
  • Evaluating your careers programme using systematic feedback from govenors

Learning from career and labour market information
  • Ensuring all / the overwhelming majority of students have accessed and used up-to-date information about career paths and the labour market to inform their decisions about study and career options by the age of 14

Addressing the needs of each pupil
  • Ensuring your school's careers programme raises the aspirations of all students
  • Keeping systematic records on each pupils' experiences of career and enterprise activity
  • Enabling pupils to have access to accurate records about their own careers and enterprise experiences

Linking curriculum learning to careers
  • Ensuring all / the overwhelming majority of students by the end of Year 9, have meaningfully experienced career learning as part of English lessons
  • Ensuring all / the overwhelming majority of students by the end of Year 9, have meaningfully experienced career learning as part of Maths lessons
  • Ensuring all / the overwhelming majority of students by the end of Year 9, have meaningfully experienced career learning as part of Science lessons

Encounters with employers and employees
  • Ensuring all / the overwhelming majority of students have at least one meaningful encounter with an employer every year they are at your school

Experiences of workplaces
  • Ensuring that all / the overwhelming majority of students have had a meaningful experience of a workplace by the end of Y11
  • Ensuring that all / the overwhelming majority of students obtain a meaningful experience of a workplace during Years 12 and 13

Encounters with further and higher education
  • Ensuring by the time they leave school all / the overwhelming majority of students have had meaningful encounters with sixth form colleges
  • Ensuring by the time they leave school all / the overwhelming majority of students have had meaningful encounters with general further education colleges
  • Ensuring by the time they leave school all / the overwhelming majority of students have had meaningful encounters with independent training providers
  • Ensuring by the time they leave school all / the overwhelming majority of students have been provided with information about the full range of universities, including the Russell Group and Oxbridge providers
  • Ensuring by the time they leave school all / the overwhelming majority of students have been provided with information about the full range of apprenticeships, including higher level apprenticeship
  • Ensuring by the time they leave school all / the overwhelming majority of students have had meaningful encounters with universities
  • Ensuring by the time they leave school all / the overwhelming majority of students have been provided with information about land based colleges
  • Ensuring by the time they leave school all / the overwhelming majority of students have had at least two meaningful visits to universities to meet staff and students

Personal guidance
  • Ensuring all / the overwhelming majority of students have an interview with a professional and impartial careers adviser by the end of Year 11
  • Ensuring all / the overwhelming majority of students have had at least two interviews with a professional careers adviser by the end of Year 13

How your results compare to other schools

The following chart shows the number of benchmarks achieved by schools in the original Gatsby study conducted in 2013. The report detailing this work can be found here
Number of benchmarks achieved

You may like to keep a record of your responses from the open questions within the tool:
Plans for the future:
Working with the EA we are planning a range of inspirers to work in year 8 / 9 and also with year 12 students.
For further information about the Gatsby benchmarks and the Careers Enterprise Company
The Good Career Guidance report by Gatsby
The Careers Enterprise Company website