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Careers Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG)

Strategic overview

Kaplan helps individuals achieve their educational and career goals. We build futures one success story at a time. We are here to make a difference to every learner and inspire them to succeed.

Kaplan is committed to providing an easily accessible, impartial and stable Careers, Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG) programme. We pride ourselves on encouraging ambition and supporting individuals to achieve their education and career goals.

We are guided at all times by our values of integrity, support, opportunity, knowledge and results.

Integral to our mission is treating every learner as a unique individual, and this is the same approach we take with our CIAG provision.

We draw upon information from the Government’s evolving agenda in skills development, the importance of an all-age careers support, as well as taking inspiration from models of quality assurance from Ofsted, the Careers Enterprise Council and the Gatsby Benchmark principles in England.

Gatsby Benchmarks and statutory guidance

Kaplan’s CIAG provision is aligned with the nationally recognised Gatsby Benchmarks, which provide a clear framework for good career guidance.

From September 2025, these benchmarks are statutory for:

  • Learners aged 16–18
  • Learners with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) up to age 25.

Kaplan is committed to embedding Gatsby Benchmarks throughout all stages of career support to ensure every learner receives high-quality, personalised advice tailored to their aspirations and needs.

As part of this, parent and carer engagement in CIAG is mandatory from September 2025 for learners aged 16-18 or on an EHCP to the age of 2025. We will involve families as key partners in the career planning process, recognising the vital role they play in supporting learners’ development and future success.

Kaplan also meets the expectations of Ofsted and the Matrix Standard by:

  • Demonstrating how Gatsby Benchmarks are embedded in CIAG delivery
  • Engaging learners throughout their apprenticeship with career planning conversations
  • Providing independent CIAG to address learners’ specific career needs
  • Monitoring learner progression, providing personalised guidance, and tracking destination outcomes to ensure positive impact.

This ensures our CIAG programme remains current, inclusive, and impactful — preparing learners for lifelong success in education and careers.

External quality assurance and matrix accreditation

Kaplan recognises the importance of external quality assurance and holds itself accountable against the Matrix Standard — a Department for Education owned international quality standard for Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG). We routinely seek external review and have successfully passed re-accreditation inspections in 2022, we were one of the first training providers to achieve the updated full Matrix standards in 2023 and gained re-accreditation in October 2024.

CIAG support throughout the apprenticeship journey

As an apprentice, you will have career education, information, advice and guidance throughout your journey. This may come from our:

  • Recruitment teams when applying for apprenticeship vacancies
  • Talent Coaches, who discuss career goals and development during training plan calls and progress reviews, tailored to individual circumstances
  • Tutors, sharing real-world applications and career insights linked to learning
  • Enrichment Week careers insight talks featuring current sector practitioners
  • The Career Progression microsite offering further study options and labour market information
  • Careers education modules within our Virtual Learning Environment
  • Podcasts and articles on career-related topics
  • The Association of Apprentices, a free networking and membership community.

Our career objectives

Kaplan aims to:

  • Provide an easily accessible, stable careers programme that meets learner needs at every touchpoint
  • Use labour market information to deliver relevant knowledge, skills and behaviours training to keep learners competitive
  • Tailor support to individual learner needs
  • Link curriculum learning to career progression via skills development, expert teaching, employer engagement and End-Point Assessment preparation
  • Collaborate with employers to design industry-relevant training aligned with business goals
  • Learn from and share workplace experiences, including insights from the Kaplan Apprenticeship Advisory Panel
  • Promote quality Careers Information, Advice and Guidance to benefit all learners.

For more information on the Gatsby Benchmarks, visit Gatsby Good Career Guidance.

For details on the Matrix Standard, visit Matrix Standard.

https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/educators/gatsby-benchmarks/ 
https://matrixstandard.com/standard/
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/careers-guidance-provision-for-young-people-in-schools/careers-guidance-and-access-for-education-and-training-providers 
https://www.gatsbybenchmarks.org.uk/