Work experience – 14-19

Gary Forrest

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Past, present, future.• Where have we come from? • Where are we now?• Where might we be heading?

Presentation Title

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Work experience for students aged 14-16

• Pre-1973 – very small numbers of school-age children – c2%• 1972 – ROSLA• 1973 - Education (Work Experience) Act 1973• 1976 an estimated 7% of school students had W/E• 1980s – TVEI – Compact – EBPs – Education Reform Act – DTI

Enterprise and Education Initiative – government target of all 16-year-olds having W/E – c70% of school students had W/E

• 1990s to 2011 – National Curriculum, Education Act 1996, disapplication, WRL statutory requirement, 14-19 reform programme – 95% participation in 2000 down to 85% in 2010

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What’s it been like in the last 10 years?• 85-95% of all 14-16 year olds in state schools• 70% of placements in Y10 • Ten years ago 2/3 of placements lasted two weeks and 1/3 one week (a

few three weeks); now it’s the reverse• Extended work experience for some• Different approaches to organising W/E, but strong support from

external agencies• External agency services included

– strategic support (guidelines, materials, training) – labour market service (finding placements and H&S checks)– delivery service (finding placements, matching students, preparation/debriefing)

• Government support – policy, guidance and funding

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Some facts about work experience 14-19

• Around 550,000 placements at KS 4• 9 in 10 say W/E is a helpful experience• 76% of state comprehensives offer W/E to almost

everyone in KS4 (2009)• Independent schools more split between W/E

offered to all or none• Schools/colleges generally only offer W/E for select

groups of 16-19 non-vocational students if at all

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Different forms of work experience

• Doing an actual job• Helping someone with their job and providing an

extra pair of hands• Rotating round different departments• Carrying out a specially constructed task/project

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Where are we heading?

• The Wolf Report and the government’s response

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WRL at KS4 – recommendation 21 of Wolf report

• “DfE evaluate models for supplying genuine work experience to 16-18 year olds who are enrolled as full time students, not apprentices, and for reimbursing local employers in a flexible way, using core funds.”

• “Schools and colleges should be encouraged to prioritise longer internships for older students, reflecting the fact that almost no young people move into full time employment at 16”

• “government should correspondingly remove their statutory duty to provide every young person at Key Stage 4 with a standard amount of ‘work related learning’.”

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Removing the statutory duty to deliver work-related learning at key stage 4

• “We need to ensure that all young people are able to gain real experience and knowledge of the workplace.

• Genuine work experience is an important part of a student's programme of study while remaining in education and Government is committed to supporting schools and colleges in achieving this aim.”• DfE consultation document on removing WRL

requirement at key stage 4

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Work experience 16-19• Local authorities have a duty to encourage work experience for

students 16-19• 16-19 year olds should have access to high quality internships

(recommendation 21 of the Wolf report)• High quality internships or other forms of experience of the

workplace where appropriate– can be particularly important for lower attaining students and young

people with a learning difficulty or disability.– proximity to labour market brought by doing an internship also benefits

those who do not necessarily want to go into higher education, but want to get a job after college. • Study Programmes for 16-19 year olds, consultation document

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Work Pairings• Work Pairings offers 16-18 year olds a period of work

experience and mentoring with a small business which typically lasts for around 6 months.

• Aimed at those at risk of disengagement• Pre-apprenticeship route• Not a national programme, but have core elements:

– Local coordinator– Mentoring – Young person seen as ‘one of the team’– Time in classroom kept to minimum in early stages

• No specific funding stream

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Where are we heading?

• The Wolf Report and the government’s response• Stresses in the system• How will schools respond?

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Work experience 14-19

• Entitlement to all• Vocational pathway• Extended work placements• Type of school– Academies– Schools with a business and enterprise ethos– UTCs– Studio Schools

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Where are we heading?

• The Wolf Report and the government’s response• Stresses in the system• How will schools respond?• Aims and different types of work experience

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Aims of work experience programmes• Transitional

– Career taster – Understand world of work– Getting references or maybe a job

• Developmental– Self confidence – broaden horizons– Maturity – personal and social development– Motivation – make the curriculum relevant, raise aspirations

• Educational– Deepen understanding of subject knowledge– Develop skills for employability– Qualifications – vocational courses, Extended Project

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Work experience 14-21

• 14-21 - voluntary work in the community• 14-21 – part time work• 14-16 – career taster and work-related learning

block placements, extended work placements • 14-19 – curriculum-related work placements• 16-21 – European and international work

experience

17Work experience post 16: some key questions• Will work experience be offered to all students?• How do ensure equal opportunity to placements?• Do the aims and learning objectives build on pre-16

experiences of work?• How will students be actively involved in establishing

the aims of the work experience programme?• How will students’ part-time work be used?• How will work experience be assessed?• What will be the roles of employers?