Having thought long and hard about what to call a remodeled adult careers service in England, the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) has announced it will retain the ‘nextstep’ brand name, although it will be tweaked slightly to Next Step.  It has also released the names of the organisations awarded contracts to deliver the service from this August.

Next Step will offer information, advice and resources about skills, careers and qualifications.  The service will be available online as well as through advisers on the telephone and face to face.  The service is free to all adults, aged 19 and over, or aged 18 and over if a Jobcentre Plus customer.

The SFA is responsible for the commissioning, contracting and performance management of the integrated Next Step adult careers service. And the SFA itself will deliver the online element of the service.

John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, said:

“We need to give people of all ages the opportunities to enrich their lives and succeed, so it is vitally important that everyone gets the help and support they need to make career choices.

“By integrating adult careers services, we are building a more responsive system that will provide all the information and tools people need in one place, making it easier and quicker for all users to get the right information and support for them.”

The organisations delivering the face-to-face adult careers service from August will be:

East of England: Suffolk County Council

East Midlands: Guideline Careers Services

Greater London: Prospects

North East: Confederation of British Teachers (CfBT)

North West: Economic Solutions AND Greater Merseyside Connexions Partnership

South East: Careers Enterprise Limited

South West: Careers South West Limited AND Tribal

West Midlands: Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Partnership (CSWP)

Yorkshire and the Humber: Careers Yorkshire and Humber .