Boris Johnson has said that every young person in London should have at least 100 hours of careers advice or work experience by the age of 16.

The Mayor of London was commenting following the release of a new report, 'London Ambitions: Shaping a Successful Careers Offer for all Young Londoners'. 

Alongside the 100 hours, the report’s other recommendations include:

1.      Every young Londoner should have access to impartial, independent and personalised careers education, information, advice and face-to-face guidance in their local community.

2.      Every secondary school and college should have in place an explicit publicised careers policy and careers curriculum on young people’s experiences of the world of work, links with business, careers provision and destination outcomes.

3.      The quality of careers provision should be strengthened by developing ‘careers clusters’ to share resources in improving awareness of London’s labour market.

Extensive funding is being used to improve careers services for all young Londoners. £380 million is being invested in London through the European Social Fund, with resources committed to supporting careers, enterprise and employability provision.

The London Enterprise Panel, London Councils and the Greater London Authority will now promote the adoption of the recommendations to all London schools and colleges.

The large-scale investment, government involvement and the report’s recommendations show that there’s an increasing pressure on you to ensure pupils are ready for the work place. You will need to prove that you have formed strong bonds with local businesses, and articulate the impact of these relationships so that stakeholders find them believable.

Do you think responsibility lies with schools? Is this this just another burden that prevents you from achieving the best exam results you can? Do you get enough support in this area? Let us know by leaving a comment below.