Free careers advice moves into Jobcentres

What is now available

The Department for Work and Pensions announced on 6 October 2026 that free careers advice is now available alongside employment support through Jobcentres. People across England can now access free careers advice alongside employment support through Jobcentres. Around 500 qualified careers advisers will offer free information, advice and guidance, working together under one roof, as the National Careers Service is merged into the DWP. For the first time, the full range of support previously offered by the National Careers Service will be available through DWP.

Around 500 qualified careers advisers have joined DWP and will provide expert careers information, advice and guidance alongside existing employment and skills support already available through Jobcentres. Support will be available to everyone, regardless of whether you claim benefits. Support can be accessed online, over the phone, or through face-to-face appointments at Jobcentres. Support can be accessed through a freephone service on 0800 072 0288. Face-to-face appointments will be available in Jobcentres later in October 2026.

The support covers finding work, changing career, progressing in work and building new skills. If you are looking for work, thinking about changing career, or want to move forward in the job you already have, the service is set up to cover those situations. The same advisers handle questions about skills, so a conversation about a new role can also cover what training or qualifications might help you get there. The announcement covers England.

Why the benefits point matters

A Jobcentre is widely assumed to be only for people claiming Universal Credit or Jobseeker's Allowance. DWP has said this careers support is available to everyone regardless of whether you claim benefits, which means someone in work and considering a change, or someone between jobs without a claim, can use it. That is the point most readers will miss. The service is free and open to everyone, not only to benefit claimants. If you have ever assumed a Jobcentre is not for you because you are not signing on, that assumption no longer matches how this careers support is described.

Using careers support does not create a benefit claim or any obligation to make one. The barrier that has kept some people away was mostly about perception rather than rules, and DWP has stated the position plainly: support will be available to everyone, regardless of whether you claim benefits. If you are employed and weighing up a change of direction, or if you have left a job and have not started a claim, you can still ask for careers information, advice and guidance. The freephone number 0800 072 0288 and the online service are open on that basis, and face-to-face appointments at Jobcentres follow later in October 2026.

Who gets in-depth guidance

Qualified careers advisers will focus on providing in-depth guidance to customers who face greater barriers to working or learning, including young people who are not in education, employment or training, those aged under 18 who are not in school or college, and disabled people. That is how DWP states the priority groups. It describes where the deepest support is directed rather than a restriction on who can access the service at all. The wider service remains available to everyone in England regardless of whether you claim benefits, so the priority groups sit alongside general access rather than replacing it.

DWP has pointed to wider programmes alongside this. It cites 2.5 billion pounds of youth employment support creating almost a million opportunities to earn and learn, and 3.5 billion pounds of investment in employment support for disabled people and those with long-term health conditions. Andrew Western, Minister for Employment, said bringing careers advice under the same roof as the jobcentre will join up fragmented services and enable thousands of people to access joined-up careers advice and employment support. Those are the government's figures and the government's description of the changes.

What the Jobs and Careers Service is

DWP describes this as part of building a Jobs and Careers Service intended to be a more personalised and digitally advanced employment service. In DWP's description, the Jobs and Careers Service is a modern, personalised and digitally advanced employment service, with more joined-up support for employers and local areas and better matching of people to local opportunities. The merger of the National Careers Service into DWP sits within that direction of travel, bringing careers advice under the same roof as employment support.

DWP has also referred to Work Hub, an AI work assistant designed for people to have conversations about their work and employment aspirations. DWP says it is intended as a 24 hour resource offering guidance on topics such as career development, job searching and applications. These are stated plans and descriptions rather than delivered outcomes, and they are reported here as DWP has set them out. The confirmed position for now is that free careers advice is available in England online, on the freephone number 0800 072 0288, and through face-to-face appointments at Jobcentres later in October 2026.

If you are not in England

Careers services are devolved, and this announcement covers England. If you are in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, the change described here does not apply to you, and this announcement does not change those services. Wales has Careers Wales. Scotland has Skills Development Scotland, which provides careers services through My World of Work. Northern Ireland has its own careers service through nidirect. Each of those is the route to use rather than a Jobcentre careers appointment.

If you are outside England, go to your own national service. Careers Wales provides careers services in Wales. Skills Development Scotland provides careers services in Scotland through My World of Work. Careers services in Northern Ireland are provided through nidirect. The freephone number 0800 072 0288 and the Jobcentre appointments described in this article relate to England. Checking your national service first will point you to the correct information, advice and guidance for where you live.

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Frequently asked questions

Who can use the free careers advice now available through Jobcentres?

Support will be available to everyone, regardless of whether you claim benefits. That includes people in work who are considering a change, people between jobs without a claim, and people who are already claiming benefits. Using the service does not create a benefit claim or any obligation to make one.

How do you access the service?

Support can be accessed online, over the phone, or through face-to-face appointments at Jobcentres. The phone service is freephone on 0800 072 0288. Face-to-face appointments will be available in Jobcentres later in October 2026.

What does the careers advice cover?

The support covers finding work, changing career, progressing in work and building new skills. Around 500 qualified careers advisers have joined DWP and will provide expert careers information, advice and guidance alongside existing employment and skills support already available through Jobcentres.

Does this apply in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?

No. The announcement covers England. Careers services are devolved. Wales has Careers Wales, Scotland has Skills Development Scotland through My World of Work, and Northern Ireland has its own careers service through nidirect. This announcement does not change those services.

Who gets in-depth guidance?

Qualified careers advisers will focus on providing in-depth guidance to customers who face greater barriers to working or learning, including young people who are not in education, employment or training, those aged under 18 who are not in school or college, and disabled people. This describes where the deepest support is directed rather than a restriction on who can access the service at all.