What is National Administration Guideline (NAG) 1 (vi)?

The National Administration Guidelines for school administration set out statements of desirable principles of conduct or administration for specified personnel or bodies.

National Administration Guideline 1 (vi) says each board of trustees, through the principal and staff, is required:

“to provide appropriate career education and guidance for all students in Year 7 and above, with a particular emphasis on specific career guidance for those students who have been identified by the school as being at risk of leaving school unprepared for the transition to the workplace or further education/training.”

To determine what this means for your school, we have identified the guideline's key terms and what they mean.

“Appropriate career education and guidance” is …

• based on accurate and up-to-date information about careers, education and training options
• based on knowledge of current and future work and employment trends
• based on students’ knowledge of themselves, their needs and aspirations
• responsive to a diversity of cultures and learning approaches.

“All students” means

that everyone in the school needs access to a minimum level of information and guidance, whether individually or in groups, whether as part of the curriculum or as part of an interview programme.

“Specific career guidance” means …

• career guidance tailored to the needs of the target group
• advice and support to help students compete equally for training places and jobs
• special programmes and events which help students to make a positive transition from school to work or to further education and training
• interventions that help students decide what to do, and then put these plans into action.

“Identified by the school as being at risk” involves …

• knowing which individuals and groups in the school are going to have difficulty in competing equally for education/training places and jobs
• predicting which students are nearing the end of their schooling
• knowing which groups are statistically over-represented in unemployment figures and tracing this back to the school population
• working with those students who appear to be the least motivated to take part in learning, and who do not respond well to school codes of practice.