THE CAREERS & ENTERPRISE COMPANY– SUPPLEMENTARY WRITTEN EVIDENCE (YUN0073)
Youth Unemployment Committee inquiry
Following the oral evidence session on the 24th June 2021, the committee requested follow up information on work experience. Below outlines additional details to assist peers in their lines of enquiry.
1. Experiences of the workplace and employer engagement as part of a broader careers programme:
Modern careers education requires significant and sustained employer/ student interaction – including experiences of the workplace. Employers bring a real-life relevance and rigour that gives young people insight into the world of work, information about routes in, and a sense of the skills that are needed. International evidence i suggests early engagement with employers makes a difference. When young adults have multiple encounters with employers at school they are 86 per cent less likely to be NEET (not in education, employment or training) compared to those undertaking none.ii
The careers education framework that has been adopted in England - the Gatsby Benchmarks - includes a strong emphasis on engagement with employers and their workplaces (see below). The benchmarks support work experience as part of a wider programme that gives young people multiple and varied touch points with industry. Where a young person does participate in a formalised work placement, it should be the culmination of a series of moments, planned for in advance and reflected on afterwards. It can even be an opportunity for young people to have their skills assessed in a new and challenging context.
The Gatsby Benchmarks provide a holistic approach to careers education, starting from Year 7:
• Benchmark 2: Learning from careers and labour market information (LMI). Employers work in partnership with schools and colleges, as Enterprise Advisers, supporting them to interpret LMI accurately. Cornerstone Employers1 are recruited in line with local growth sectors to ensure young people’s experiences are aligned to local employment opportunities.
• Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers. Employers work with schools and colleges to increase the relevance of subject-learning to future careers, helping to increase motivation.
• Benchmark 5: Encounters with Employers and Employees. Every year, from the age of 11, pupils should participate in at least one meaningful encounter with an employer.
• Benchmark 6: Experiences of Workplaces. By the age of 16, every pupil should have had at least one experience of a workplace, and a further such experience should take place by the age of 18.
• Benchmark 7: Encounters with Further Education and Higher Education. Employers promote technical pathways, including their own apprenticeship offers to ensure young people make informed decisions.
2. National improvement across schools and colleges – workplace and employer engagement
There is significant buy-in to modern careers education across the country with over 4,000 (85%) schools and colleges voluntarily using the CEC’s Compass digital platform to track their progress. 92 per cent of Careers Leaders say the Gatsby Benchmarks have led to improvements in their overall careers provision.iii
Over the period of the Careers Strategy (Dec 2017 – Dec 2020) and subsequent 2018 Statutory Guidance, more and more schools and colleges have boosted their employer-linked careers offer. CEC’s Compass data shows
improvement on all benchmarks relating to employers, including workplace experiences and meaningful encounters (see above box)iv. Performance is particularly strong in the most established Career Hubs. An evaluation of the careers infrastructure - Careers Hubs and Enterprise Advisers - suggests young people are benefiting from more and higher quality employer encounters.v
From an employer perspective, research from the CBI shows increased employer engagement with educationvi with businesses saying it is easier to engage with schools in a purposeful way. Today, over 4000 Enterprise Advisers (volunteer senior business professionals) are recruited and paired with schools and colleges across the country to develop their careers offer. 300 Cornerstone Employers (small, medium, and large companies) are also targeting support for young people in the most disadvantaged areas of the country.
There is more to do to ensure that every young person receives high quality careers education, including regular engagement with employers and their workplaces. The foundations are in place, with evidence showing that the careers infrastructure of Careers Leaders and Careers Hubs is making a difference. Commitments in the Skills for Jobs White Paper to continue the rollout of the Careers Hubs, as recommended by the Augar Report, will support more schools and colleges to establish connections with employers. This is pivotal as emerging evidence shows that modern careers education – defined by the Gatsby Benchmarks - correlates to increased chances of young people being in sustained EET.vii
3. Case Studies
Case Study 1. Changing employment prospects of Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) students through work experience – Stone Soup Academy
Stone Soup Academy, based in Nottingham, supports up to 80 young people who are either excluded or at risk of exclusion from mainstream schools. In 2018, the PRU had limited connections to industry but wanted to build a work experience programme, recognising the importance of involving community and local businesses.
Their Enterprise Adviser, from Crowne Plaza Hotel, worked extensively with them to develop their work experience offer. They devised a placement programme that spans an entire term. Learners go to work placements one day per week where they complete work tasks alongside modules towards their NCFE Award in Exploring Occupational Studies for the Workplace qualification.
For many young people, placements have resulted in offers of paid work, while 100% of students now move into secure EET destinations. Stone Soup Academy are using this as a blueprint to provide extended work experience for every student with employers such as John Lewis and Trent Bridge Cricket Ground.
Case Study 2. Online work experience during the Covid pandemic – My Week of Work.
The early part of the Covid-19 pandemic made face-to-face work experience almost impossible, with most employers working from home and schools delivering much of their support online. As hundreds of thousands of students accessed lessons through the Oak National Academy, The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) partnered with them, and the Learn Live platform, to pioneer an online week of work experience.
“My Week of Work” featured more than 50 live broadcasts from employers, including Microsoft, Burberry, BAE Systems and many SMEs. Employers talked about the jobs they do, how they got into the industry and what it would be like for students. 43 live Q&A sessions were organised with leading Cornerstone Employers such as Balfour Beatty, NHS Trusts and the Royal Airforce – giving students an opportunity to engage with employers who struggle to provide traditional work experience.
Over 750 schools participated and nearly 120,000 young people took part. Many were at critical transition points, where meaningful experiences of the workplace are important. They gained an understanding of new careers and the necessary qualifications and pathways to take, including vocational and technical routes. Young people also had a unique opportunity to experience workplaces that were outside of their locality, which was especially significant for young people in rural areas.
i Musset, P., and Mytna Kurekova, L. (2018). Working it out: Career Guidance and Employer Engagement. OECD Education Working Papers, 175. Paris: OECD Publishing (Pg.53)
ii Mann, A., and Percy, C. (2013). Employer engagement in British secondary education: wage earning outcomes experienced by young adults. Journal of Education and Work
iii The Careers & Enterprise Company & SQW (2020). Evaluation of the Enterprise Adviser Network: School and College Survey 2020. London: The Careers & Enterprise Company.
iv The Careers & Enterprise Company (2020). Careers education in England’s schools and colleges 2020: Working together for young people’s futures. London: The Careers & Enterprise Company
v SQW (2020). Enterprise Adviser Network and Careers Hubs Evaluation Report (pg.IV)
vi CBI & Pearson (2019). Education and learning for the modern world: CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey report 2019
vii Percy, C. & Tanner, E. (2021). The benefits of Gatsby Benchmark achievement for post-16 destinations. London: The Careers & Enterprise Company.
Careers education provision and destinations
One of the target outcomes of improved school-level career provision is a greater proportion of students in sustained positive destinations in education, employment, or training (EET). Destinations data is important for supporting students and evaluating/improving career programmes at a local and national level. The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) supports Careers Leaders within schools and colleges to collect and use data linking provision to destinations through Compass, Compass+, and wider training and resources. Using national data, emerging evidence shows an association between the quality of career provision and positive post-16 outcomes.
Early evidence of a relationship between careers provision and destinations
The lag in the publication of national destinations data, caused by a validation process and pre-publication (to ensure high statistical standards), creates a requisite three-year period for analysis and reporting.
As part of the CEC’s ongoing work to develop and evidence its impact model, we analysed the link between 2,400 schools’ Key Stage 4 reported Gatsby Benchmark performance in 2017/18 and their Year 11 students’ sustained destinations the following year – the report is here.
This early data shows there is correlation between Gatsby Benchmark achievement and increasing the chances of young people being in sustained EET after leaving school and college. Each year, this analysis will be repeated with more data (Compass data was available for 578 schools and colleges in 2016/17, compared to 4,255 in 2020).
Destination data collection
The Department for Education (DfE) collects destinations data through local authorities (LAs) who have a statutory duty to track young people up to and including age 17.1 There are similar duties on schools, colleges, and work-based learning providers to provide necessary information to LAs.
Schools also collect destinations data, in line with Gatsby Benchmark 3, which advises them to “collect and maintain accurate data for each pupil on their destinations for three years after they leave school”.
Data collection and reporting processes vary across Las, but tends to involve:
• Schools sharing cohort information and intended destinations (the latter’s not a requirement but often done).
• Dialogue between LAs, schools and FE colleges on intended destinations and identification of NEET risk.
• Tracking young people in their initial destinations with LAs/schools contacting NEETs and ‘Not Known’ young people. Regular dialogue continues to check EET status.
• Final CCIS[1] submissions are sent to DfE by LAs and are checked by schools for accuracy at a macro level.
CEC’s digital tools and destinations – Compass and Compass+
Digital infrastructure developed by the CEC, namely Compass and Compass+,3 is driving this use of data in careers provision. Nearly 9/10 (89%) of secondary schools are voluntarily using the Compass tool to measure, monitor and drive performance on careers against the Gatsby Benchmarks. This has helped schools and colleges understand what they need to do in order to improve their careers provision.
Compass+ allows Careers Leaders (and other teaching staff) to track individual careers aspirations and tailor interventions to individual needs. On Compass+, a destinations form is a part of the pupil profile and a user (invariably the Careers Leader) can update this area for each individual student to keep track of:
• Their interests: An area to record initial thoughts from Year 7 – 9 on subjects, industry and job role.
• Key Stage 4 intended destinations: An area to record preferred, second, third options at KS4 (and associated information about establishment, route, subjects, qualification level, duration of the course).
• Key Stage 5 intended destinations: An area to record preferred, second, third options at KS5.
• Actual destinations: Which options (preferred, second or third) they followed three years after leaving school.
As an organisational priority, the CEC is looking for ways to improve the Compass+ tool to ensure responsiveness and tailoring it to the needs of Careers Leaders in schools. For example, it has recently been made more applicable to special schools and SEND students in mainstream schools by expanding the routes to include supported pathways.
1 A review of local destinations data by York Consulting for the CEC examines the current ways in which schools, colleges and local authorities are collecting destinations data.
2 CCIS is a local database that provides local authorities with the information they need to support young people to engage in education and training, identify those who are not participating and to plan services that meet young people’s needs.
3 A digital careers management tool that integrates with school Management Information Systems and enables Careers Leaders to track an individual pupil’s careers education and plan personalised careers programmes accordingly.
7th September 2021