The Coalition Government's policies on career guidance are analysed. Its rhetorical concern for career guidance provision is based largely on its support for social mobility, and its recognition of the role of career guidance in moving towards a demand-led skills system. Initial policy statements affirmed its intention to establish an all-age…

This article examines the Blueprint framework for career management skills as it has been revealed across sequential implementations in the USA, Canada and Australia. It is argued that despite its lack of an empirical basis, the framework forms a useful and innovative means through which career theory, practice and policy can be connected. The…

The three major national all-age career guidance services--in New Zealand, Scotland and Wales--have been reviewed using an adaptation of the methodology adopted in the OECD Career Guidance Policy Review. The main features of the three services are summarised, and some key differences and distinctive strengths are outlined. The alternative approach…

Three trends in the evolution of the UK Learndirect advice service are identified: the partial migration from telephone to web-based services; the trend within the telephone service from information/advice-oriented interventions to more guidance-oriented interventions; and the move from a mainly learning-oriented service to a more career-oriented…

The devolution instigated in the United Kingdom in 1997 was a further stage in a long historical process. Nonetheless, prior to the 1990s, the basic structures of career guidance services were broadly similar across the UK. But the marketisation of careers services that took place under the Conservative government in the mid-1990s went further in…

The case for more attention to productivity in career guidance delivery is related to the pressures both for greater public accountability and for increasing access to services without massive increases in resources. The term "productivity" is defined and its applications in a career guidance context are explored. Possible strategies for enhancing…

A programme designed to develop the capacity of voluntary agencies and community groups to deliver information, advice and guidance (IAG) on learning and work to their clients and members is outlined. Four forms of capacity building are distinguished: internal IAG capacity building, based on developing IAG resources within the agency or group…

The UK Learndirect helpline is the largest telephone helpline service in the guidance field. The development of the helpline is placed in the context of the transformations in service delivery in other sectors. Reviews the use of the telephone in career guidance, and describes the evolution of Learndirect, with particular attention to its policy…

Examines the relationship of career guidance to public-policy interventions designed to address social exclusion. Analyzes the nature and origin of the concept of social exclusion and reviews the roles of career guidance in response to it, particularly in relation to young people who have dropped out of formal education or are at high risk of…

Evaluates the impact for higher education institutions of networking PROSPECT (HE). Discusses the rationale for networking and implementation strategies adopted. Data suggests that networking provides easier access in terms of both location and time, with no evidence of any reduction in the use of the careers services. (Author/GCP)

Outlines the development of guidance in the United Kingdom. Reviews the relationship between two distinct but related traditions: the development of the practice of career guidance; and the development of guidance as an educational concept. Examines conceptual issues and discusses challenges for guidance in the new millennium in relation both to…

Outlines the background, rationale, methodology, and outcomes of developing local lifelong guidance strategies in four geographic areas. Analyzes the main components of the strategies developed and addresses a number of issues relating to the process of strategy development. Explores implications for parallel work in other localities. (RJM)

Examines the industrialized concept of career and analyzes ways in which this concept is breaking down. Explores the emerging significance of alternative concepts and identifies some of their implications for career guidance. Argues for the social significance of career guidance in its relation to the importance of individual experiences. (RJM)

Examines the development of the main computer-aided careers guidance system in North America, along with the U.K. PROSPECT system. Discusses the roles of government, of the private sector, and of guidance professionals, in relation to the future of such systems, particularly in relation to guidance in Europe. (JPS)

Market principles can be applied to careers guidance services through the concept of guidance as a market maker or through the concept of a market in guidance. The notion of a market in guidance can take the form of a real market or of a quasi market. A quasi market can take the form of contracts or of vouchers. These options are explored.…