Primary - Career Development Institute

Introduction

This section provides resources for "making the case" for careers education, referring to both challenges that it can tackle and evidence that interventions produce positive outcomes.

Career learning in primary education is relatively less mature than secondary education. However, the interest in starting young people to think about the world of careers at an early age is many decades old. Over the last few years, UK researchers have started to implement and evaluate programmes in schools more systematically, with the aims of starting to introduce young people to the idea of ‘careers’ from an early age.

Research has shown that limiting beliefs and stereotyping can be established at formative ages, particularly amongst disadvantaged or under-represented groups. Therefore, the aims of such interventions are often to create the foundational behaviours that mean youngsters will look wider when thinking about their careers in the years that follow.

Headlines - Headlines that summarise the high level purpose and value of careers interventions.
Landscape & contexts - Reviews and analysis that describe the environment in which CEIAG operates, and overall impact of CEIAG
Case studies - Examples of realising different, specific benefits for service recipients, and applying to theory to practice
Future research questions - Informed by our stakeholders, some candidate topics for future research projects
Relevant institutions - Prominent research-active organisations, either commissioning or producing evidence.
Journals/publications - Relevant journals and publications for further research
Data sources - Open national and international datasets on this group, to provide context.

1. Headlines

The academic literature and many other publications have cited the importance of careers interventions at primary age. Amongst the common reasons that investment in careers education is important include:

There is a body of international evidence for strong relationships between skills developed in early childhood and later life outcomes (Schoon et al, 2015)
Stereotypical and limiting views, usually related to gender, are attributed to learning in the first 5-6 years of life. (e.g. Bian et al, 2017)
Parental influences on a child’s career choices, despite good intent, can be biased and limiting (e.g. Barnes et al, 2020)
There is an advantage of starting early, to build the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in life (e.g. Magnusson 2001)
Early careers learning provides the ability to link with social and emotional learning, to derive beneficial synergies (e.g. Howard and Ferrari, 2023)
Interest in skills that are in demand for society, particularly STEM, are most effectively initiated in earlier years (e.g. DeWitt, 2015; Caspi et al, 2023).

There are a range of literature reviews and studies that demonstrate the positive impact of careers education, for example:

An international literature review shows that many benefits are gained from primary-level career learning, though the literature is not as well established as secondary education. There are also some enabling practices within schools, such as leadership, that support the quality of the support that is delivered (Kashefpakdel, E., Rehill, J., and Hughes, D., 2018)
An excellent, comprehensive review and a national study was written by Percy et al (2021) showing international impacts of early years and primary careers education that include a) increased engagement in learning, b) social mobility enhancement and c) consideration of broader career options.
A major longitudinal study in Derbyshire found a series of very positive impacts on students by way of their curiosity, engagement, confidence and learning can be achieved from a career learning programme (Hughes, D and Hughes, R., 2022)
An evaluation of projects that were funded by the Primary Fund in the UK showed how investment in a well designed programme can help to spread best practices through the UK school network, to the benefits of many students (The Research Base, 2021).

2. Landscape & contexts

Selected publications, listed below, cover literature reviews and specific studies that help to make the case for careers investment by describing the context in which it operates, and reviewing literature to show the overall impact:

Publications tend to provide one or more of the following types of insight for practitioners, decision-makers or policy makers, denoted in the "Purpose" column below: U = Understanding users, needs and experiences, P = Practices and their evaluation, C = Supporting or informing the investment case for careers, E = Understanding enablers of success in systems, processes and workplaces, T= Developing and criticising theories and frameworks.

NB: We have generally tried to include resources that are free to access, but have included a few important studies that require payment. These are denoted by "(Paid)" next to the URL link in the title column.

Case studies are described in the section below that particular studies where theory has been applied to the design of a service, to generate particular outcomes.

Title	Type	Brief description	Location
Welde, A. M., Bernes, K. B., Gunn, T. M., & Ross, S. A. (2016). Career education at the elementary school level: Student and intern teacher perspectives. Journal of Career Development, 43(5), 426-446. (Link) (Paid)	P C E	A teacher-training program was introduced in Southern Alberta, Canada, to enable intern teachers to integrate career education projects into their mainstream elementary school courses. The researchers evaluated 25 career education projects and their corresponding 56 types of career education interventions that were implemented by intern teachers. Students benefited from engaging in a variety of developmentally appropriate learning experiences that allowed them to engage in self-exploration and identify potential careers of interest. Implications for future research and practice are provided.	Canada
Howard, K. A., Castine, E., & Flanagan, S. (2017). Promising career and workforce development practices in elementary school settings. In The Handbook of Career and Workforce Development (pp. 163-179). Routledge.. (Link) (Paid)	P C	The paper provides a review of the practices of career learning in US elementary schools. It describes two main models that are deployed. Outcome research is also reviewed, which shows the promise of the techniques used.	US
Hughes, D., Kashefpakdel, E. (2019). Innovation in Career-Related Learning: Starting Early in Primary Schools. In: Maree, J. (eds) Handbook of Innovative Career Counselling . Springer, Cham. (Link) (Paid)	P C E T	This book chapter contains four separate parts to a study on career related learning in primary schools: a literature review, quantitative survey with n=17 schools in England, a survey of n=43 informants and implications analysis. The paper derives successful approaches and offers a theory of change for practice.	England
Kashefpakdel, E., Rehill, J., and Hughes, D. (2018), What works? Career related learning in primary schools. Education & Employers and The Careers Enterprise Company (Link)	P C E	The paper compiles the “limited robust” evidence on the career-related learning of primary aged children at the time. However, the combination of existing literature alongside new and emerging evidence from teachers and other leading experts, provides support for evidence led practice.	Internat’l
Kashefpakdel, E., Rehill, J. and Hughes, D. (2019). "Career-related learning in primary schools. The role of primary teachers and schools in preparing children for the future". Education and Employers, Teach First and AKO. (Link)	P C E	In May 2018 Teach First commissioned Education and Employers to undertake research into career-related learning in primary schools. It contributed with international benchmarks of 12 OECD countries and primary research to inform objectives, good and interesting provision and a taxonomy of teachers’ roles for primary careers learning programmes.	Internat’l
Cull, N., Collins, R., Austin, K., O’Shea, S., Groves, O., & Lamanna, J. (2021). Explore your future: A career exploration and mentoring program for primary-school students. Australian Catholic University (Link)	U P C E	This report provides a set of case studies into career exploration and mentoring, with a focus on students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Outcomes achieves included students’ increased engagement and interest in higher education, and the reduction of gender stereotypes in careers thinking.	Australia
Education and Employers and Primary Futures (2021), Scaling Up: Developing and extending career-related learning in primary schools (Link)	E	Primary Futures is a programme that connects primary schools with volunteers from diverse backgrounds and jobs. It has been shown to produce gains in attitude to school and learning. The report describes An evaluation of the pilot to understand how the Primary Futures programme could be scaled up and the impact of interventions in primary schools.	England
Moore,N., Clark, L., Neary, S., & Blake, H. (2021). 'Crucial impacts on career choices: Research to understand the influences on young people’s choices in primary and secondary schools: Executive summary'. Derby: University of Derby. (Link)	U E	Research is summarised from a study into the career decision making processes and influences of primary and secondary children from five countries in Europe. It shows similarities, with some differences that are attributed to the local social and economic conditions. The paper helps to show developmental stages, such as when career thinking begins to form (usually aged 12), that youngsters make decisions in different ways, and that many experience anxieties up to age 15.	Europe
Percy, C., Amegah, A., & Chambers, N. (2021). Starting early: Building the foundations for success. Education and Employers Research. (Link)	C E	This report makes the case for career-related learning in primary schools, based on new in-depth research, the testimony of some 1,000 teachers and 10,000 children, insights from sector leaders like the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), and a growing international research base on what works and why. Benefits of career learning were found in three clusters: 1) increased motivation, 2) increased social mobility, and 3) the fact students don’t rule out options prematurely.	England
The Research Base (2021). Primary Fund Evaluation: Impact Report July 2021. London: The Careers & Enterprise Company. (Link)	C E	The evaluation study examined the impact of the Primary Fund, which was set up by the Department of Education to spread good careers learning practices across primary schools in England. The evaluation showed examples of positive results and feedback though detailed conclusions were made challenging by COVID.	England
Edmonds, J., Lewis, F., & Fogg-Rogers, L. (2022). Primary pathways: elementary pupils’ aspiration to be engineers and STEM subject interest. International Journal of Science Education, Part B, 12(3), 221-234. (Link)	U	This mixed methods research provides some deeper insights into attitude formation. It draws from the “Children as Engineers project” which is researching aspirations to a career in engineering. and the links between these aspirations and attitudes to STEM subjects. It explores findings that suggest that there is little relationship between aspirations and positive attitudes to individual curriculum subjects. Pupils’ out-of-school activities and the links to aspirations in engineering are also researched and discussed. The article discusses the pupils’ rationales for these choices and the implications for intervention and informal engineering experiences that rely on a science and maths context for elementary school activities and for fostering interest in engineering.	England
Hughes, D., & Hughes, R. (2022). Career-related learning in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire primary schools: Year 3 evaluation and impact report. Education and Employers (Link)	P C E T	This paper describes an evaluation of careers work undertaken with Year 4 pupils in a primary school. In this school, a yearly careers week was held when structured activities were organized around talks about their work given by parents. The researcher found that 5 months after the careers work, the Year 4 pupils remembered much of significance. These findings are then related to a number of theories of career development which support such work early in pupils’ careers. The paper concludes by outlining the benefits that careers work in the primary school offers	England
Outhwaite, D., Banham, J., & Cummings, A. (2022). A Case Study of the Benefits of the Science Learning Partnerships in Early Years and Primary Education in England. Education Sciences. (Link)	E	This paper looks at a career-related programme, rather that careers education directly, to increase engagement with STEM from the early years. It charts the recent history of the STEM Learning UK contracts with local Science Learning Partnerships (SLPs) and identifies the level of leadership support that has been made available to support the Early Years and Primary school sector.	England
Raynham, H., & Jinks, G. (2022). Do teaching staff in primary schools perceive any impacts of school-based counselling on school engagement? British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 50(2), 230–247. (Link)	U P C E	The paper evaluates the effect of career learning on primary students through the observations of n=186 teachers and teaching assistants. The research was conducted in Cambridgeshire. Perceived effects were significant on pupils’ social engagement , emotional engagement and cognitive engagement.	England
Azad, A., (2023), Transforming early childhood education and care: Sharing international learning, Report for the Fawcett Society (Link)	P C E	The paper provides a review of five countries that have undergone transformations to early childhood education, and the outcomes. The work provides the context for careers learning and success factors for education.	Intern’t

3. Case studies

Some case studies, and collections of case studies, that show outcomes from different practices are listed below (We denote cases where the study represents the explicit application of a theory to the design or interpretation of a practice).

Title	Themes	Brief description	Location
Careers and Enterprise Company (n.d.), Case studies. (Link)	Applying Gatsby benchmarks Good practice	This resource provides a series of case studies completed by the Career and Enterprise Company in primary schools. The case studies clearly explain the approach, people involved, cost, principles employed of good careers education and of building skills.	England
OECD (n.d.) Effective career guidance. (Link)	Good practice	This resource provides links to a series of international case studies that represent examples of good practice in early years and primary education. The studies are written up in short format (typically 1-2pp) and include an example of the implementation of practices and theories and objectives behind them.	International
Gothard, W. (1998). Careers Education in a Primary School. Pastoral Care in Education, 16, 36-41. (Link)	Parent talks	This paper describes an evaluation of careers work undertaken with Year 4 pupils in a primary school. In this school, a yearly careers week was held when structured activities were organised round talks about their work given by parents. The researcher found that 5 months after the careers work, the Year 4 pupils remembered much of significance. These findings are then related to a number of theories of career development which support such work early in pupils’ careers. The paper concludes by outlining the benefits that careers work in the primary school offers	England
Nazli, S. (2007), "Career development in primary school children", Career Development International, Vol. 12 No. 5, pp. 446-462. (Link)	Super’s Career Development Model Narrative approaches	The paper had three aims to both determine the level of primary school students' career development, and to test Super's childhood years career development model. The research examined structured essays written by n=145 students which then underwent a content analysis. Students were found to demonstrate 9 characteristics from Super's model for career development in childhood years.	Turkey
Dorrington, L., & van Nieuwerburgh, C. (2015). The development of peer coaching skills in primary school children: An exploration of how children respond to feedback. International journal of information and education technology, 5(1), 50. (Link)	Peer to peer coaching	Although not career related, this paper provides a review of peer to peer coaching amongst primary school students with relevant learning. The intervention was applied in the context of a disadvantaged area in East London and with children being mainly of Bangladeshi origin. A qualitative evaluation was carried out of an activity where children gave and received feedback,. and the research explored the effect on the recipient. It was found peer coaching and feedback could work, based on the child already feeling valued and the feedback building on existing strengths.	England
Smith, K., Fitzgerald, A., Deefholts, S., Jackson, S., Sadler, N., Smith, A., & Lindsay, S. (2018). Reinvigorating primary school science through school-community partnerships. Navigating the changing landscape of formal and informal science learning opportunities, 87-103. (Link)(Paid)	Community engagement	The paper describes how introducing primary-aged children into community activities is mutually beneficial, using a particular case study of science learning: "Through an exploration of three case studies, we demonstrate situations where primary teachers and schools intentionally take steps to ensure their students have a sense of connectedness to their local community and environment by developing mutually beneficial learning relationships with both formal and informal science partners. By doing so these schools actively broaden the primary school science curriculum to include aspects of contemporary science with a particularly strong emphasis on social and emotional aspects of learning. The result is a wider range of learning outcomes than were ever intended or anticipated for students, teachers and the community in general. Finally, the chapter identifies the characteristics that make school-community partnerships educationally valuable for science learning and teaching."	Australia
Emembolu, I., Padwick, A., Shimwell, J., Sanderson, J., Davenport, C. and Strachan, B. (2020) Using action research to design and evaluate sustained and inclusive engagement to improve children’s knowledge and perception of STEM careers. International Journal of Science Education, 42 (5). pp. 764- 782. ISSN 0950-0693 (Link)	Action research	This study is one of few that investigates the impact of a project that delivered career-driven STEM interventions on young children’s (7–10 years old) career knowledge and perceptions over time. Using an action research approach, this study outlines 10 distinct features for designing child-centred STEM interventions. These were delivered in 6 primary schools across North-East England over a 2-year period. A STEM Career Knowledge and Aspirations Tool was used to collect data to evaluate the impact of these interventions. Children sorted 30 job cards (mix of STEM and non-STEM) into jobs they knew, and also into jobs they would like to do. Baseline data and follow up data were collected in 2015 (n = 352) and 2017 (n = 356). Some different outcomes were seen between girls and boys.	England
Madden, W., Green, S., & Grant, A. M. (2020). A pilot study evaluating strengths‐based coaching for primary school students: Enhancing engagement and hope. Coaching researched: A coaching psychology reader, 297-312. (Link)	Strengths based coaching	This pilot study examines the impact of an evidence-based strengths coaching program on male primary school students' levels of engagement and hope: 38 Year students (mean age 10.7 years) participated in a strengths-based coaching program. Student engagement with lessons and their sense of hope both increased.
Education and Employers and Primary Futures (2021), Scaling Up: Developing and extending career-related learning in primary schools (Link)	Community engagement Volunteer participation	This is one of several articles/publications from the Primary Futures programme, which examines ways that the scheme can be scaled up. Primary Futures connects primary schools with volunteers from a wide range of diverse backgrounds, with different career journeys and doing different jobs. THere was some report that depicted a broadening of horizons, with 25% of children also stating that they had changed their mind about what they want to be when older.	England
Outhwaite, D., Banham, J., & Cummings, A. (2022). A Case Study of the Benefits of the Science Learning Partnerships in Early Years and Primary Education in England. Education Sciences. (Link)	Learning partnerships and support networks for teachers	This paper looks at the history and present of the model of Science Learning Partnerships in England and the teacher support networks. A case study approach is taken. This paper charts the changes to the Early Years (EY) and Primary teacher support networks, in science particularly, and examines what they provide and how this can be improved, and discusses, through session evaluation and feedback, what teachers have appreciated the most.	England
Skills Development Scotland (2021), Wallace Hall Primary – CES/My World of Work session Feb 21 (Link)	Professional learning for teachers	The case study shows a targeted intervention to increase a school’s capabilities to deliver career learning: Skills Development Scotland’s Education team led a session with staff at Wallace Hall Primary to increase the teachers’ knowledge of the Career Education Standard and the resources available to help them meet the expectations of the standard. The school were left equipped with a framework to embed their career learning activity.	Scotland
Hughes, D. and Hughes, R. (2023), Career related learning in Derbyshire and NottinghamshireYear 3 Evaluation and Impact report (Link)	Gatsby benchmarks Good practice	The report provides an evaluation of careers learning in two counties - Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. There is a particular focus on social mobility for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The structure of the programme governance and management was discussed, which involved each area creating an 'Opportunity Area Partnership Board'. The evaluation ultimately covered 9,000 children in 2022, having been launched in 2019. Outcome results poiinted to a broadening of horizons, with more children saying that they can do any job when they grow up and there are lots of jobs for them.	England
Lidyasari, A. T., Hidayah, N., Triyono, & Hambali, I. M. (2023). A career guidance model design-based blended learning in primary schools. International Journal of Learning and Change, 15(3), 255-280.	Borg, Gall and Branch development model	This research aims to develop a career guidance model design based on blended learning for primary school learners. This research combines the development model of Borg and Gall and Branch. The syllabus, lesson plan, inventory, guidance, and blended learning materials are developed for increasing career awareness, which was found to be increased with a pre-test and post-test measurement.	Indonesia
About Skills Builder Partnership (n.d.), Ashington Learning Partnership (Link)	School - employer partnerships	The About Skills Partnership is an example of a partnership model running from 2009, that links schools with employers. In the case study, a model is deployed where schools are helped to develop the transferable skills of primary aged pupils with transferable skills. The About Skills Builder have a range of other case studies (Link).	England
Inspiring the Future (n.d.), Welton Primary (Link)	Primary Futures Curriculum integration	This is an interview with an innovative head teacher that describes the activities that are run to enhance career learning as part of the Primary Futures programme. A range of activities are described, including daily teacher conversations and making use of secondary school facilities to host tech or science events.	England
Now Press Play (n.d), St Fidelis Catholic Primary School: National Grid and now>press>play partnership (Link)	Social enterprise Learning	Now Press Play are an example of a social enterprise and a social innovation, working internationally: providing a range of different education activities aimed at primary aged pupils which include but transcend careers learning. Interventions use sound, story and movement. In this case study, the school engage primary school children in National Grid’s programme to reduce CO2 and learn about renewable energy and net zero.	England / International

4. Future research questions

Based on our interactions with academics, policy makers and practitioners, the CDI's view is that the following research themes would help to enhance both "making the case" and practice.

Understanding mid- and longer-term results from early career learning
Understanding outcomes at all stages of career education
Developing a pedagogy for career learning.
Developing and validating outcome metrics that correlate with later life outcomes.
Understanding the motivations and barriers to adopting career education in schools.

5. Relevant institutions

To understand more about this area, it is worth reviewing the work of the following organisations who are active in commissioning or producing research.

These are organisations who regularly conduct or commission research related to career and/or CEIAG for this group.

Where content is restricted to memberships or requires payment, this is noted next to the name of the organisation in the first column.

Name

Description

Careers Enterprise Company (Link)

The Careers and Enterprise company are “the national body for careers education in England, supporting schools and colleges to deliver modern, 21st century careers education”. Although traditionally focussing on secondary education, they now offer dedicated resources for primary schools on their Primary Careers Resources platform.

Careers Wales (Link)

Careers Wales is a public (government funded service) that provides careers information, advice and guidance service for Wales. Careers Wales works with the Welsh Government. Although a small number of Careers Wales publications have appeared, these remain relatively few. Career Wales mainly publish articles through an online repository.

Cedefop (Link)

Cedefop is a decentralised agency of the European Union that supports the development of European vocational education and training (VET) policies and contributes to their implementation. As such it publishes a large number of papers and reports – both pan European and into member countries – across most aspects of CEIAG, but particularly covering policy and system level issues.

Education and Employers (Link)

A UK based charity launched in 2009 which aims to “provide young people with the inspiration, motivation, knowledge, skills and opportunities they need to help them achieve their potential”. The charity works with state schools, employers, the national bodies that represent them and a wide range of other partners. Research informs education, policy and practice in the UK.

Department of Education (Link)

The Department of Education, along with the Department of Work and Pensions, are the two Government areas where agendas align with Careers. The Department of Education website provides a section on “Research and Statistics”, and “Policy papers and consultations” guidance and regulation to inform on the national education landscape and challenges.

Economic and Social Research Council (Link)

ESRC is the UK’s largest funder of economic, social, behavioural and human data science. The council do not fund a lot of direct careers research but cover related employability themes. The research library of the wider UK Research Institutes can be accessed through their Gateway to Research, for projects dating back to 2006.

Gatsby Foundation (Link)

Gatsby is a charitable foundation that support the development of employability skills and has since been both a funder and active in projects themselves. “Good Career Guidance” is one of the four themes of their work in education (while they also work in other Neuroscience and Plant Science). Their Eight Benchmarks are a framework for school leaders, headteachers, and careers advisors to assess the development of their pupils in employability skills.

International Centre for Guidance Studies (iCeGS) (Link)

iCeGS have conducted a high volume of critical national and international studies, specifically into the areas of careers: education, development, and policy etc, for both academic journals, policymaking bodies and careers service providers. Consequently, their research library contains relevant papers and reports to this area, as well as many related topics.

National Association for Primary Education (Link)

NAPE is a membership body that work to create resources, courses and other products that help to enhance primary school education.

National Careers Development Association (US) (Link)

The NCDA is the United States membership body for careers professionals. As well as publishing periodic larger scale research, practitioners actively contribute short practice articles by way of small-scale evaluation, reflection or learnings, particularly through their Career Convergence magazine. All career stages are covered, including Elementary education, equivalent to Primary in the UK.

National Foundation for Educational Research (Link)

The foundation produce a wide body of research studies and evaluations aimed at improving education outcomes by informing different key decisions facing schools and policy makers. A number of their studies have covered careers explicitly, while there has been more still covering the relationship between education and employability.

Nuffield Foundation (Link)

The Nuffield Foundation is an independent charitable trust with a mission to advance educational opportunity and social well-being. Research informs social policy, primarily in Education, Welfare and Justice.

OECD: Education (Link)

The OECD publish intensely both research studies and data sets into education. Topics span outcome measures, national policies, teacher capabilities, future/forecasting studies – but there is a specific section on career readiness. The focus of the work appears more orientated towards secondary education.

Primary Futures (Link)

Primary Futures is a programme run in partnership with the NAHT that connects primary schools with diverse workplace volunteers to take part in aspirational activities and talk with children about their jobs. The resource provides a range of case studies and success stories.

PiXL Club (Link)

PiXL was born out of the DfE's 'The London Challenge', a school improvement programme set up by the government in 2003. It provides a network for collaboration and shared support between schools. Amongst their various proposition, they support primary schools. PiXL are not a research organisation, but do produce content that create insight for the sector.

Skills Development Scotland (Link)

SDS are “The national body supporting the people and businesses of Scotland to develop and apply their skills”, providing public career services. They have also published research to inform career sector development for the future.

Teach First (Link)

Teach First are the UK’s largest teacher training programme. They publish various research and policy reports that describe the sector’s challenges.

The Children’s Commissioner for England (Link) Scotland (Link Wales (Link) and Northern Ireland (Link)

The Children’s Commission provides a stream of ongoing research into children’s lives in the four nations of the UK, with a particular focus on disadvantage, offering context and insight into such groups.

UNESCO: Early Childhood and Care (Link)

UNESCO is the “UNESCO is the United Nations Laboratory of Ideas”. Research and data sources provide an international perspective, cross cutting themes and studies relating to wider global contexts to education, such as ‘sustainability’ and ‘democracy’.

6. Journals/publications

Research is disseminated in a wide range of journals, grey literature and conferences or events. In our own database of papers, we found the following had produced several papers relating to careers, primary education and related themes, so are another place to conduct a deeper search.

Name	Description
British Journal of Guidance and Counselling (Link)	The aim of the British Journal of Guidance & Counselling is to publish work that sets trends and provokes fresh thought and innovation in the practice and understanding of counselling, psychotherapy and career guidance. The journal seeks to communicate, enrich and advance theory, research, policy and practice in these fields.
Career Development International (Link)	Career Development International provides a platform for research in the areas of Careers and Development that deals with questions of theories and theory development, as well as with organizational career strategy, policy and practice. (Formerly called the International Journal of Career Management)
Career Exploration and Development in Childhood (Link)	This one paper-collection explores career exploration and development in childhood from a range of international contexts. As well as covering theory and development, there is content on the ‘facilitation of exploration and development’.
Child Development (Link)	Child Development, the flagship journal of the Society for Research in Child Development, has published articles, essays, reviews, and tutorials on various topics in the field of Child Development for almost 100 years. While few are directly related to careers education, research often provides deeper understand and context.
Early Childhood Education Journal (Link)	The journal covers contemporary early childhood education. Articles cover the social, physical, emotional, and intellectual development of children age birth through 8, analysing issues, trends, and practices from an educational perspective.
International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance (Link)	The publication is dedicated to promoting the importance of educational and vocational guidance globally. It publishes articles related to work, leisure, career development, counselling, guidance, and education, so including but broader that career guidance.
Journal of Career Development (Link)	The Journal of Career Development (JCD) provides professionals in counselling, psychology, education, student personnel, human resources, and business management with the most up-to-date concepts, ideas, and methodology in career development theory, research, and practice.
Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling (Link)	The journal covers all areas of careers education, counselling and advice and careers work in schools, colleges, universities, training providers, in the workplace, in organisational and in community settings.

7. Data sources

Some contextual data sources are provided below. These are particularly useful for studying the prevalence of different situations, trends over time, or for comparing situations with different geographies or groups.

Name	Description
OECD Data Explorer (Link)	The OECD measure a wide range of economic and social indicators including education and employment values. Metrics on primary schools include Inclusion time in education by country and subject.
Children’s Commissioner (2024), The Big Ambition Survey (Link)	In March 2024, the England Children’s Commission published a major study called ‘The Big Ambition’ which captured the experiences and hopes of more than 250,000 youngers from 6-18, from a cross-section of background. A specific survey was designed for 6–11-year-old, providing good context for the feelings and hopes of this age group.
Gov.uk: Compare the performance of schools and colleges in England (Link)	The government produce data on school performance for primary, secondary and special needs schools and colleges: exam results, Ofsted reports and financial information.
Office of National Statistics, ‘All data related to education and childcare’ (Link)	The repository provides 38 data sets on various aspects of youth and childcare.

Primary education