Bruton to address guidance counselling issues in budget

Education Minister Richard Bruton will set out in the budget how he plans to improve guidance counselling services whose reductions have been found to affect students who may need them most.

The Institute of Guidance Counsellors (IGC) revealed that its latest survey shows schools with highest levels of disadvantage have seen the biggest cuts to numbers of hours allocated each week for guidance and student support services.

As a result of budgetary changes in 2012, schools no longer have a guaranteed set number of hours for guidance counselling.