GILLIAN KEEGAN MP, PARLIAMENTARY UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR APPRENTICESHIPS AND SKILLS AT DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION (DFE) – SUPPLEMENTARY WRITTEN EVIDENCE (YUN0083)  

Youth Unemployment Committee inquiry

Following my appearance before your committee on Youth Unemployment on 13th July, I am writing in response to some questions you raised.

You asked about the DfE’s position on work experience, which we believe can play an important part in helping young people with their future career options and give them a greater understanding of the world of work. It can be an empowering experience for young people and help them choose their future career paths.

The careers statutory guidance makes it clear that schools should offer work placements, work experience and other employer-based activities as part of their careers strategy for year 8-13 pupils and that secondary schools should offer every young person at least seven encounters with employers during their education.

The Gatsby Benchmarks, which we expect schools and colleges to adopt to develop and improve their careers programmes and support their statutory careers duties, include two specific benchmarks related to contacts with employers and work experience - Benchmark 5, “Encounters with employers and employees” and Benchmark 6, “Experiences of workplaces”.

We are providing valuable support to schools and colleges to provide work experience through The Careers & Enterprise Company, which has been tasked with increasing access to work experience for young people and is providing a range of key resources to support Careers Leaders to develop their careers programmes and meet the specific benchmarks.

All 16-19 study programmes should contain some element of work experience. This requirement is set out in specific 16-19 study programme guidance, which stipulates that all study programmes should include work experience and non- qualification activities that complement the other elements of the programme and support the student to progress to further or higher education, or to employment.

A high-quality industry placement is an integral part of T Levels, and we are committed to ensuring that all students taking T Levels have access to such placements in the workplace. This is key to ensuring students leave with the knowledge, skills and real-life experience necessary to enter skilled occupations. We have put in place substantial support for schools, colleges and employers to help them deliver T Level industry placements, including £165m for schools and colleges since 2018/19 as part of the Capacity and Delivery Fund, to help them increase their capacity and capability to deliver industry placements. We have put in place a support package for 2020, 2021 and 2022 for schools and colleges, delivered by the Association of Colleges, to help them to deliver placements, with a key focus on quality assurance and establishing long-term relationships with employers. We have also published a suite of guidance for schools, colleges and employers, which outlines their key roles and responsibilities in delivering high- quality placements.

We have also put in place support for employers to deliver placements. This includes expanding the remit of the National Apprenticeship Service to engage employers on T Levels, offer advice and guidance on delivering placements and match schools and colleges to employers. Funding has also been made available for employers through the employer incentive fund, whereby employers can claim £1,000 for hosting a suitable T Level industry placement that commences between 27 May 2021 and 31 July 2022. Finally, we have implemented flexibilities to how industry placements can be delivered – such as allowing placements to be delivered by 2 employers - to reflect different industry needs.

In the session with the Rt Hon Nick Gibb, the Minister of State for School Standards, you asked about support for young people who leave school too young and become NEET, missing out on careers advice. We would only identify young people who become NEET once the LA has reported them as NEET post 16, so we are unlikely to pick up summer year 11 drop out until September/October.

However, alongside their statutory duty to track and support young people post-16, some local authorities choose to use Risk of NEET Indicators to help support their young people and identify those in school who may be at a higher risk of dropping out after Year 11. We set up groups to allow local authorities to share good practice on these indicators and further develop innovative ways to support young people. We are determined to do all we can to prevent young people becoming NEET and latest figures show that 11.5% of 16-24 year olds were not in education, employment or training in England (October to December 2020), which is 4.1 percentage points lower than the same period in 2010.

We also recognise that extended school and college restrictions due to the pandemic have had a substantial impact on children and young people’s learning and we are committed to helping pupils and students make up learning they may have missed due to the pandemic.

On 2 June 2021 we announced £1.4bn of additional funding across Early Years, Schools and 16 to 19 settings. This is in addition to the £1.7bn already committed, bringing total investment announced for education recovery over the past year to over

£3bn.

This funding is focussed on disadvantaged children and young people, as it is essential we support this group to catch-up before progressing into the labour market or Higher Education.

Finally, shortly after my appearance at your inquiry, on 15th July, the Prime Minister made a number of skills-related announcements that may be relevant to you. These announcements included:

• Expansion of the Skills Bootcamp training programmes. We announced an extra 16,000 fully funded places for adults to upskill or retrain, helping them access skills and training that lead directly to a job in emerging industries such as nuclear energy, green and digital skills.

• A consultation on the future of the National Skills Fund, which has already supported thousands of adults to upskill and retrain through Skills Bootcamps and access to almost 400 free courses through the Free Courses for Jobs programme.

• Announcement of the 18 areas across the country that will be the first to lead work to build stronger partnerships between local employer groups, colleges and other providers through the Skills Accelerator programme. This will mean that the training on offer meets the need of local communities and fills skills gaps in key sectors of the economy, allowing more people to get the training needed to secure great jobs close to home.

• A consultation on our reforms to FE funding and accountability. This sets out our proposals to reform the adult skills funding system to make it simpler, outcome focused and more effective - and the accountability system so it is focused on outcomes, taking a strategic approach to support and intervention.

I hope this additional information is useful to your inquiry and I look forward to continuing to work together on developing high quality provision for young people.

14th September 2021