National Consultation on Post-Primary Guidance

The Department of Education wish to invite all stakeholders to participate in this consultation on post-primary guidance. This consultation will inform policy development on whole-school guidance, including the role of the guidance counsellor, in the short and medium term and your participation is very welcome and important. The consultation will remain open until 5pm on 09 April.

This research will look at all aspects of whole-school guidance, including the role of the guidance counsellor. In particular, we welcome stakeholder perspectives on:

• the effectiveness of the guidance-allocation model in post-primary schools
• the proposed new guidelinesdocument on whole-school guidance

You may participate in this consultation through one or both of the below options. This will be accompanied by focus groups and a questionnaire distributed directly to all post-primary schools.

1) Provision of a written submission

All stakeholders (organisations, groups, individuals) are welcome to provide written submissions which may be of any length.

Stakeholders are invited to address any element pertaining to post-primary guidance, including but not limited to the effectiveness of the guidance-allocation model.

Stakeholders may wish to review and address on the draft guidelines for whole-school guidance (which are published for the purpose of consultation only), available here.

A final version of these guidelines will be published following the national consultation, and will replace the 2005 Guidelines document (DES, 2005), which will assist post-primary schools in delivering high-quality whole-school guidance to students.

Stakeholders may wish to answer key research questions which have been developed by the Guidance Unit to evoke thought and provision of perspective on key aspects relating to post-primary guidance.

Below is an optional template which you may chose to use to provide your written submission.

Email written submissions to guidance@education.gov.ie

Closing date is 5pm on 09 April 2025.

2) Completion of a survey

A survey has been prepared by DE Guidance Unit to understand the perspective of particular groups of stakeholders. Post-primary students, parents, guidance counsellors and school staff are invited to complete a survey.

Access the survey here

Closing date is 5pm on 09 April 2025.

The key research questions which provide a foundation for this research are outlined below. While these key questions will be addressed throughout all stages of the research, they may be particularly helpful for those completing written submissions.

1. How are schools using the guidance allocation effectively to ensure there is the most appropriate balance as outlined in the document below, thereby meeting the guidance-needs of students?

2. What potential is there for schools to further enhance their guidance support for their students using their existing guidance allocation?

3. How are guidance teams in schools implementing WSG effectively?

4. What further steps could guidance teams consider to further develop or enhance this support?

5. What are the training needs for schools in relation to guidance?

The above questions provide a rigorous framework through which the research will be conducted. The questions have been carefully developed to reflect and refer to the criteria and characteristics of what constitutes effective guidance.

The consultation is open to all stakeholders of guidance, and post-primary education. All are welcome to participate including individuals, groups, organisations. The department looks forward to your engagement on this shared endeavour.

Note:

The National Strategic Framework for Lifelong Guidance (2024-2030) and accompanying strategic action plan (2024-2030) were developed by the National Lifelong Guidance Policy Group, as established by Minister Foley in 2022. The work of the group focusses on ensuring a coherent national long-term policy on lifelong guidance.

The below document comprehensively outlines the consultation.