• Offer comes as new research reveals school teachers and parents are struggling to give appropriate careers guidance

• Parents and young people invited to “Get into Lincoln College” and find out what it could do for them.

Lincoln College is calling on parents to contact them for guidance on today’s job market and to find out more about the different routes into work available to their offspring. The college, which also has sites in Newark and Gainsborough, is inviting parents to come and experience the guidance they have to offer on their upcoming open days, which take place at the Newark Campus on the evening of Thursday 15th November and at their Lincoln site on Saturday 17th November. The recommendation comes as new, independent research by the Association of Colleges released today to mark Colleges Week (11-18 November), finds that school teachers and parents admit they are struggling to give the right advice to prepare young people for the world of work (1).

The research finds:

• One fifth of parents (20%) feel out of their depth advising their children about careers, whilst 32% say they only feel comfortable talking about jobs with which they are familiar

• Nearly one fifth (19%) of parents say they give their child the same jobs and careers advice they received from their parents • Some parents readily admit their offspring are ill-prepared for work, with more than one in 10 (11%) confessing they wouldn’t even employ their own child

• 44% of school teachers admit to giving a pupil bad or uninformed advice in the past • 82% of school teachers don’t feel they have the appropriate knowledge to advise pupils on careers

• 72% of parents think education should be more focused on preparing young people for employment

• Indeed, 93% of school teachers and 94% of parents want pupils /their child to have more access to employers and businesses

John Allen, Principal, Lincoln College said “We understand how hard it is today for young local people to get sound advice on careers, and how to pursue them, and are proud that we can offer all our students careers and education advice, which has been given a prestigious Matrix quality award. Lincoln College has always had good links with local employers, and we are now in contact with around 750 employers, working with them to improve, train and offer opportunities for students. We try and give the students as much experience of a real work place as possible to help prepare them, and our onsite learning facilities are designed to create a realistic working environment for the students. We aim for all our pupils to go away with the contacts, training and experience to move forward in their careers.”

The college works hard at helping young people into work and in developing the local workforce, and uses its contact with over 750 local businesses in a wide range of vocations to help develop and train their employees. It also offers a £1500 grant for local businesses who hire apprentices, and offers over 450 vocational courses ranging from construction to beauty. The college is currently in the process of setting up it’s own recruitment agency with the aim of finding students employment, using it’s links to local industries to help the students get into work.

In addition a brand new Facebook application has launched today to coincide with Colleges Week. Quizl - is targeted at 14-18 year olds and aims to get them thinking about their future. The app has been developed by the Association of Colleges in conjunction with careers advice experts from Babcock Lifeskills and is intended to be a first step for young people to help them understand the different choices and options available to them. The app will also be accessible via Lincoln College (UK) Facebook page.

Colleges Week, now in its fifth year, is a national initiative that seeks to raise awareness of the vital role Colleges play in improving people’s chances of getting into work and helping businesses to grow. Working to a central theme of employability and work-readiness, activities will be held up and down the country to encourage people to ‘get into College’ and find out what it can do for them.

Colleges Week 2012 is supported by The Skills Show, the UK’s biggest careers and skills event.