RYAN GIBSON, NATIONAL CAREERS CHAMPTION AT ACADEMIES ENTERPRISE TRUST – WRITTEN EVIDENCE (YUN0072)

Youth Unemployment Committee inquiry

Lord Shipley asked about views on work experience. My thoughts are detailed below:

Gatsby Benchmark 6 focuses on schools/colleges ensuring students have experiences of workplaces. It calls for at least one experience of a workplace by the end of Year 11 and at least one further experience of the workplace by the age of 18. I believe it is important that schools and colleges follow the guidance of this benchmark. The wording of the title of the benchmark is also important - experiences of workplaces - rather than just traditional approaches to work experience this allows the opportunity for schools/colleges to innovate, particularly in how we construct progressive experiences for students. Schools can therefore explore approaches beyond the traditional approach of 5 consecutive days where quality, preparation and follow up may not have been key considerations in the past. I think it is important that schools and colleges consider the objectives and intentions of their programme - what do they want their students to achieve from the experiences? They can then design their implementation accordingly. We need to work to ensure students have high quality experiences of workplaces that progressively build upon prior experiences. Schools may choose to explore their school as a workplace in Year 7, explore the community as a workplace in Years 8/9 and then explore further workplaces in Y10, with post 16 experiences being more closely linked to destinations. There are some exciting models being developed by The Edge Foundation Future Learning Programme (particularly in relation to Real World learning, Project Based learning and Community Connected Learning). Post Covid, I also believe we should consider hybrid approaches going forward - where the best of the virtual/remote experience can be combined with high quality physical experiences. CEC guidance on benchmark 6 is useful here - stating that experiences should have clear learning outcomes, be two way and interactive, students should complete work set by an employer and receive feedback directly from an employer. At AET, we are also now working to ensure our primary school children also have experiences of workplaces.  

28th June 2021