YOUNG ENTERPRISE – WRITTEN EVIDENCE (YUN0019)
Youth Unemployment Committee inquiry
Young Enterprise’s programmes and services make a tangible contribution to helping prevent youth unemployment via enterprise education programmes and services. It is a national education charity founded in the UK nearly sixty years ago. Our vision is that every young person has the opportunity to learn the vital skills and enterprising mindset needed to earn and look after their money and to make a positive contribution to their community and wider society. The charity’s work empowers young people to discover, develop and celebrate their skills and potential.
The charity’s ‘No Time Like The Future’ strategy aims to ensure that no young person is left behind, to close the skills gap and deliver opportunities that future generations deserve – no matter what the background of young people. The three key goals of Young Enterprise are to:
In order to achieve these goals by 2023, Young Enterprise is mobilising 40,000 volunteers, teachers, and alumni across their network, which will require an investment of 16 million pounds over the next three years - to create a minimum of 1 million opportunities to help young people activate their untapped ambition.
The charity motivates young people to secure employment and succeed in the changing world of work by equipping them with the work skills, knowledge and confidence they need and works directly with young people, teachers, volunteers, businesses and influencers. Through hands-on employability enterprise and financial education programmes, resources and teacher training, Young Enterprise significantly reduces youth unemployment and helps young people realise their potential beyond education. During COVID, the charity supported 195,000 young people with 229,142 financial and enterprise education opportunities in 2020. Examples of enterprise education programmes include:
Young people are not being provided with the opportunity at school to develop tangible employability skills and to understand the range of jobs available to them (see answer to question 5). The job market is transforming rapidly, every day brand new job functions are being created and traditional careers are being swept aside by the rise of automation and technology. It is therefore imperative that young people are provided not just with an academic education but with the non-cognitive skills which will be the bedrock of their future careers and which will be at even more of a premium in the face of technological change. Young people need to be equipped with transferable skills which will be crucial not only to navigate securing new roles but for the job functions themselves in the evolving labour market. They need to be provided with opportunities to interact with the world of work and be inspired by it, particularly those young people who do not have access to professional role models.
Research from employer organisations such as CBI and FSB demonstrates that employers value personal attributes and work-related skills over academic qualifications. It is clear that some employers are unable to recruit the diverse talent required for the success of their organisations. For example, Young Enterprise is actively working with major employers who seek to partner with the charity and deploy its networks of young people, to widen the employers’ talent pool and increase the social mobility of the young people they seek to recruit.
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Enterprise education programmes and services provided by third sector organisations such as Young Enterprise are not funded consistently and receive no funding from HM Government. Funding for Young Enterprise is provided by private sector corporates (large and small); philanthropic individuals; and trusts and foundations. Due to commercial pressures on the private sector during and post the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other issues affecting the UK economy, funding of enterprise education programmes is therefore not consistent. This means that the charity is unable to consistently provide opportunities for young people for whom our interventions will make the greatest difference. It is a postcode lottery as to whether young people have the opportunity to access enterprise education programmes at school or in higher/further education. Increased funding for enterprise programmes would be an important step in levelling up the playing field for young people to receive constant access to opportunity.
Academic performance has – rightly – been at the heart of the English education system for many decades. It remains crucial that young people leave education with the necessary academic skills required to navigate adult life, such as literacy and numeracy. These are baseline skills that all schools must strive to deliver. Yet they are not, on their own, sufficient for ensuring that young people leave education – after fourteen years of investment in them – ready to secure a relevant and fulfilling job and to tackle the many challenges that life will throw at them. Our education system needs to prioritise both the enhancement of academic potential and the development of crucial skills and mindsets that will support young people into jobs and careers. As it stands, the vast majority of focus in the English education system is placed on the former – preparing students for exams but not later careers and jobs. We need to address this imbalance and make sure that both aspects are given weight, recognising both their standalone importance and the role they play in enhancing each other.
Young Enterprise believes that the national curriculum does not at present equip young people with the right knowledge and skills to find secure jobs and careers. It is essential that young people have the opportunity during the course of their education to gain key skills related to securing a job and being successful in it. The education system is currently skewed towards academic success, to the exclusion of employability skills and preparation for the world of work. Employer organisations such as the CBI, FSB and BCC consistently point to the importance of work-related skills of the human capital aspect of productivity in terms of employability skills such as creativity, teamwork, communication, resilience.
As we recover from COVID in a challenging economy it is crucial that we do not write off young people as ‘lost’ or ‘generation COVID’ and instead focus on the practical changes we can make to support young people and ensure they can find employment or develop their own enterprising companies. An enterprising mindset is essential, whether working for an employer, or for those choosing to start a new company. Young people need to be encouraged to focus on their strengths, to persevere, be resourceful and relentless in their quest to reach their goals. They must be supported in deploying an enterprising mindset during the course of their education.
At present the opportunities young people have to develop work-related skills and an understanding of the types of careers available to them depend on post-code lottery as to where their school is based in terms of whether there is funding available for their schools, and/or whether the school’s Senior Leadership Team places a focus on enterprise education. There is therefore an uneven playing field between young people across the country in terms of how they are prepared to secure a job and be successful in it. Young People need to be given the opportunity in the course of their schooling to experience the world of work, gain an understanding of the range of careers available to them, to build the non-cognitive skills related to the workplace and engage with relatable role models and mentors from the world of work who can open their eyes to their successful futures and to develop their professional networks.
Teachers need to be given the tools and incentives to help young people develop key employability skills and there needs to be space in the school day to deploy enterprise education programmes. At the moment there is little incentive for schools and hence little consistency in approach to exposure to the world of work and its non-cognitive skills.
There are four key areas that we feel could be implemented to enhance the focus within schools on the application of skills and mindsets through existing subject areas:
Teachers will always communicate the learning objectives of lessons verbally and in written form at the beginning of the lesson. This enables students to understand the focus of their learning and to self-assess at the end of the lesson as to whether those outcomes have been achieved. Traditionally these learning objectives have focused on the knowledge that young people will acquire during the lesson, however in acquiring this knowledge they will often take part in activities that develop a whole range of skills – teamwork, presentation, listening, creativity. The skills and mindsets that young people are developing should also be included within the learning objectives that are communicated at the beginning of lesson across subject areas. In this way young people will not only appreciate the knowledge they have gained during lessons but also the skills and mindsets they have developed or applied.
In order for schools to be able to apply consistent and progressive coverage of skills and mindset within their learning objectives there would need to be an agreed framework that all schools and teachers can work towards. This framework should be differentiated, providing skills and mindset focused learning outcomes that build on each other and progress in complexity.
The learning outcomes framework should be used to measure the progress young people make. This does not need to be, and probably should not be, a formal type of assessment. Instead it could be self-assessed, peer assessed or informally teacher assessed. Importantly though the young person should be aware of their personal development against the learning outcomes framework. This is crucial in each young person taking responsibility for their own self-led development – identifying areas that may require additional focus as well as those where strengths exist. This is critical in young people building confidence in themselves and establishing areas that they can develop further.
In addition to increasing the visibility of learning objectives with subject lessons there should be opportunities provided to young people within school that allow the skills and mindsets that have been developed to be applied in a real life context. This is a different form of learning, and these opportunities are so important in young people understanding how the skills and mindsets they have developed can be combined with subject learning in a practical way. This is key preparation for the world of work which requires us to do this on a daily basis. These opportunities remain relatively rare within schools and it is fundamental that this change if we are to prepare young people as effectively as possible for future employment.
Regarding space in the school day, Young Enterprise was disappointed in the Government’s decision in 2018 not to make the whole of PSHE (Personal Social Health Economic) education compulsory as a single, coherent subject. This would have been an effective and efficient mechanism for ensuring that all schools were providing young people with enterprise education, as this is covered by some schools in the Economic aspects of PSHE education. It would also have been a popular move supported by 100 leading organisations – including teaching unions and 92% of parents, 92% of pupils, and 88% of teachers.
The government’s approach of making only certain elements of the subject compulsory (relationships, sex and health) risks causing confusion for schools. Statutory status for the entire subject would have set out clearer expectations for an existing subject and the new requirements may lead some schools to de-prioritise vital aspects of the subject – such as the economic strand including careers and enterprise education. At the very least, it is important that the Department of Education emphasise to schools the importance of the E for Economic aspects of PSHE.
6. Is careers education preparing young people with the knowledge to explore the range of opportunities available? What role does work experience play in this regard?
The Government’s 2017 Careers Strategy recognises that ‘Many schools deliver careers education, including employability and enterprise, through the curriculum as part of their commitment to Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education’. There does not seem to have been follow up of aspects of the Careers Strategy. The statutory careers guidance document October 2018 ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’[1] states that ‘The curriculum offers excellent opportunities for developing the knowledge and skills that employers need’ and again recognises that ‘many schools currently deliver careers, employability and enterprise lessons through the curriculum as part of their commitment to Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education’.
Much of the statutory guidance is however advisory, i.e. advice is offered rather than providing legal obligations on schools to provide careers advice/training. Also teachers are not provided with support in implementing the guidance if they so wish to. Further, there is incentivisation for schools to provide this type of careers advice. For example, related to important topics such as employer encounters it states: “every school should begin to offer every young person seven encounters with employers – at least one each year from year 7 to year 13 – and meet this in full by the end of 2020”.
Independent careers guidance (which for some, though not all, might include one-to-one advice) forms an integral part of an effective careers education, but is not enough nor the entirety of it. The statutory careers guidance states that: ‘every child should leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. This means ensuring academic rigour supported by excellent teaching, and developing in every young person the values, skills and behaviours they need to get on in life’. It also suggests that schools should have careers guidance strategy ‘embedded within a clear framework linked to outcomes for pupils’, taking into account the enterprise and entrepreneurial skills they’ll need in life as well as opportunities to experience work and hear from employers.
This all requires discrete curriculum time and PSHE is the most effective subject. Teaching in other subjects and extra-curricular opportunities can and should enhance this learning but without specific PSHE lessons for careers education, it is very difficult to see how schools can fully meet their responsibilities in this respect. The Government must make the entirety of PSHE compulsory for schools and should make the Careers Guidance mandatory rather than advisory in both primary and secondary schools.
There already exists a wide range of good practice in the delivery of age-appropriate careers advice at primary level on which schools would be able to build on if made mandatory. Indeed, for many children, primary school offers their first in-depth workplace encounter. Young Enterprise sees appetite for a greater focus on careers at primary level both from pupils and teachers. We also appreciate, through our work on the ground, the importance of inspiring young people to consider their future careers early and relating this to the importance of their academic education.
Any progress on careers advice made at primary level is built on at secondary level with as minimal overlap as possible. Too often, there is a lack of joined up thinking between primary and secondary levels on careers advice, with many secondary schools acting as a ‘starting point’ in this area. While this may be necessary for some pupils, it often means that those pupils from primary schools with a strong focus on careers are covering old ground in their first few years at secondary level. Ensuring that careers advice, information and guidance is mandatory for primary schools will help to level the playing field, ensuring that secondary schools can build on the creativity of primary schools on careers advice from day one.
7. What lessons can be learned from alternative models of education and assessment? What are the challenges with, and obstacles to, the adoption of such models?
The new Welsh curriculum, coming on board from September 2022, provides a refreshing perspective on teaching and learning, particularly in relation to areas such as enterprise, employability and financial education. The approach being taken here provides a curriculum with just six Areas of Learning and Experience, providing schools and teachers with the flexibility to cover these areas in the most appropriate way for their young people. The responsibility for the content and approach is largely in the hands of the schools and teachers, recognising that they understand best the needs of their young people and local community. This approach works incredibly well for careers and enterprise education which should look and feel different according to local opportunities and the needs of the young people.
Questions 8-13: N/A
10th May 2021
[1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/748474/181008_schools_statutory_guidance_final.pdf