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Towards a brighter future for Cumbria’s young people

Young people in Cumbria will be able to make a great start to their working lives, thanks to a new careers strategy being developed.

The strategy will make sure that all young people understand all of the career opportunities available to them in Cumbria.

It will result in the development of a high quality programme to support careers education, giving young people access to better information about the wide range of employment and learning opportunities open to them across the county.

It will include information, advice and guidance, enterprise and work experience and has been designed to build on existing best practice.

Cumbria LEP’s Employment and Skills Advisory Group is leading the work on the strategy and has enthusiastic support from local businesses, schools and colleges.

The strategy will include a commitment to communicate more effectively with young people, so that they have clearer and more user friendly information about careers options.

In addition, there will be support for schools, colleges and employers to make sure that their students receive accurate, up to date information about the skills and qualifications they will need to fulfil their career ambitions and aspirations.

There will also be additional support focused on encouraging young people to consider science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers, as there are a significant high-quality employment opportunities for young people with these skills.

The strategy is in direct response to the issues raised by businesses sitting on Cumbria LEP’s employer panels, which are responsible for identifying the skills needs of each of the key business sectors in the Cumbrian economy.

Cumbria LEP’s Head of Employment and Skills Craig Ivison says: “The careers strategy aims to give our future workforce a clearer path into their working lives, based on understanding the opportunities available in the Cumbrian economy

“We can draw on some excellent examples of careers and enterprise education to provide a high quality offer to young people, schools, colleges and other key partners across the county.

“Our employer panels want us to implement a consistent, coherent careers strategy that helps everyone and eases their recruitment difficulties.

“We need to promote the wide range of opportunities for employment and learning across Cumbria, and ensure our young people are given the right information at the right time to make informed choices about their future.

“There is a real commitment and enthusiasm from all of our partners across business and education to work together and devise new approaches to make this strategy a success.”

Working in partnership with the Careers and Enterprise Company and Inspira, Cumbria LEP has already established the Enterprise Advisor Network in Cumbria, working with employers to support the development of careers education in all secondary schools and colleges across the county.

The county’s strong work in careers development is reflected by the fact that the Cumbrian Enterprise Adviser programme received two nominations for the Careers and Enterprise Company Annual Awards 2018 for careers support for young people.

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