Developing the Young Workforce: annual report 2014-15

Chapter 1 – Schools

Work Relevant Learning from 3 – 18

Overview

• Senior phase pupils from schools across Scotland benefited from new vocational opportunities delivered by colleges.

• In academic year ( AY) 2014-15, in addition to the existing school-college activity, the Scottish Funding Council ( SFC) supported 7 college regions, in partnership with 9 local authorities and 61 schools, to develop 19 new courses at SCQF level 5 and above. These courses recruited over 290 senior phase pupils as part of pilots (called early adopters) to explore and develop new senior phase vocational pathways.

• For AY 2015-16, this activity has grown to include all college regions working with 24 local authorities across 223 schools. Early SFC estimates suggest that over 170 courses have been provided and these have recruited over 2,500 senior phase pupils.

• In AY 2014-15, Skills Development Scotland ( SDS) developed 2 pilot foundation apprenticeships (called pathfinders) in partnership with Fife and West Lothian College, recruiting a total of 75 pupils on to these courses. A foundation apprenticeship offers young people the chance to start an MA in school, alongside other qualifications and awards.

• For AY 2015-16, SDS has expanded the number of foundation apprenticeships pathfinders to 29 across 6 skills sectors, recruiting around 300 senior phase pupils from across 20 local authorities and involving 9 college regions.

• More generally, in 2015 a total of 43,911 skills for life and work qualifications were attained – an increase of 18.3% on 2014.

• Guidance documents have been published for use by partners and practitioners, to support our ambitions for employer engagement in education, careers advice, and quality work placements. The Guidance for School/ Employer Partnerships, new Career Education Standard (3-18), and new Work Placements Standard were developed with input from a wide range of partners, including employers and young people, and were published in autumn 2015.

• School inspections are now taking account of how well young people are being prepared for work. This was captured in a new edition of How good is our school?, which schools use as a basis for self-evaluation, published in September 2015 .

• The programme has engaged around 800 primary and 700 secondary head and depute teachers through national events, and around 300 young people and other stakeholders at conversation days. Two national learning events – bringing together local and national partners who have a key role in supporting the implementation of DYW – have been held this year.

• Careers advice is now being given to young people at an earlier stage in school, funded by £1.5m of the Developing the Young Workforce implementation budget.

• Local authorities have been supported to play their part in implementation, receiving £12.3m over 14-15 and 15-16 from the Developing the Young Workforce implementation budget to support pathways for young people into sustained and quality jobs that align with local circumstances and labour market.

• A partnership of Education Scotland, Skills Development Scotland and the Institute of Physics are collaborating on evidence based projects in six school clusters to investigate and identify the most effective approaches for increasing pupil participation in STEM subjects, in particular girls, to improve gender balance in these subjects.

• The Scottish Funding Council Gender Action plan for Further and Higher Education will reflect and align with the work being developed in schools to address gender balance in senior phase vocational pathways. The interim plan will be published in early 2016.

Schools: Introduction

“Skills development is crucial for all our young people; as is the opportunity to experience motivational, work-related learning as part of their curriculum from 3-18. I am passionate about the DYW agenda and the potential it offers to both raise attainment and improve outcomes for our young people”.

These were the words of Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, in her keynote address at the Scottish Learning Festival on 23 September.

The Developing the Young Workforce approach to giving young people more and better opportunities to gain the skills and qualifications they need for future jobs and careers – particularly in the senior phase of school - builds on our existing key policies on education, in particular Curriculum for Excellence, Teaching Scotland’s Future and increasing attainment.

This is a partnership effort and, in this first year of implementation, we have been working with partners and practitioners across Scotland to learn from schools and regions which are already very successful in connecting education with employment, and to establish where further support is needed. A significant focus of our efforts has also been about communicating the value of work-related learning and raising awareness of the many high quality options on offer.

Local authorities have a lead role in the implementation of Developing the Young Workforce, working with colleges, employers and other relevant partners to ensure that all young people in all of their schools have access to a wide range of work-related learning opportunities, throughout the curriculum from 3-18. A central aim of Developing the Young Workforce is closer and more meaningful engagement between education and employers. Through new guidance for school/employer partnerships and a new standard for work placements, which were developed with input from business, we are making good progress towards embedding this effort.

It is vital that young people, and those supporting them in making choices about learning and careers, are aware of all the options available and are actively promoting the widest range of opportunities. The enhanced careers guidance now available to young people has therefore been an important development, as has the creation of the career education standard (3-18) with its focus on developing an understanding of the world of work from the early stages.

We expect these early successes to be built on as we move further into implementation . Colleges are key providers of work-related learning and vocational qualifications for young people in the senior phase. As such, we have set out our expectations of the sector in this regard, through the Scottish Funding Council Outcome Agreement Guidance for Colleges in 2015-16 and 2016-17. This guidance details our expectations of increased work-related options in the senior phase, including vocational qualifications, being offered across the country in academic year 15-16.

The ambitions set out in outcome agreements show that for academic year 2015-16, this activity has grown to include all college regions working with 24 local authorities across 223 schools. Early SFC estimates suggest that over 170 courses have been provided and these have recruited over 2,500 senior phase pupils. Together with an expansion of the apprenticeship programme, in particular around 300 new Foundation Apprenticeship opportunities, there has been a significant expansion in the options open to young people in the senior phase.

Looking ahead, some challenges will be to:

• Maintain a focus on Developing the Young Workforce and its aims amidst a climate of budgetary constraints and considerable demands on the education system;
• Ensure that there is a focus on learning about the world of work from the early stages of school onwards as set out in Career Education Standards 3-18.
• Ensure that those advising young people on their senior phase pathways have a good understanding and appreciation of the full range of opportunities available to them;
• Ensure planning, timetables and logistical arrangements are able to accommodate growing numbers of young people choosing vocational pathways in the senior phase;
• Widen access to careers advice from S1;
• Expand the professional learning and development opportunities available to teachers and other practitioners around DYW.

Progress So Far

Delivery Year 1 – Academic Year 2014 – 2015
Milestone	Programme Progress	Detailed Update
The aims of the Developing the Young Workforce ( DYW) programme embedded within the Curriculum for Excellence Implementation Plan and monitored through the Curriculum for Excellence Management Board and Implementation Group;	Completed	DYW is now reflected in the CfE implementation plan 2015/16, with regular consideration of DYW at CfE Management Board and Implementation Group.
Communications and engagement work undertaken to develop understanding of routes into work amongst parents, teachers and practitioners, and young people;	Ongoing	Key products including the new Career Education Standard (3-18), Standard for Work Placements and Guidance for School/Employer Partnerships have been developed with extensive involvement from partners. The national parent stakeholder group have been partners in the National Learning events. The National Parent Forum Scotland have been involved in the development of the standards and in shaping parental communications. They have also produced Learning pathways in the Senior Phase and Beyond and Career Education: A world of possibilities
An initial evaluation of the starting point in terms of what secondary schools are already offering by way of vocational qualifications established;	Completed	The baseline position has been established (as set out in KPI 3 [1] for this strategy): 7% of young people left school in 2013/14 with vocational qualifications at SCQF level 5 or above. For the purposes of this KPI, vocational qualifications include National Certificates, Higher National Qualifications, Scottish Vocational Qualifications, National Progression Awards, and Skills for Work at SCQF Level 5 and above. This will evolve as we ensure we are fully reflecting all vocational qualifications valued by employers.
Appropriate measures of success for schools in relation to the DYW programme developed:	Underway in 14/15 – will be completed in 15/16	In addition to KPI 3 and markers within ‘How Good is our School 4’, additional measures are being built into the development of the key ‘ DYW products’ with additional links also being made other education priorities like the National Improvement Framework.
From inception the Insight online benchmarking tool reflects a wide range of awards, including a range of vocational qualifications, undertaken in schools or through school college partnerships where these awards meet the criteria for inclusion.	Completed	Insight includes attainment data on the full range of vocational qualifications currently captured by KPI 3 There are on-going discussions with other awards providers on their potential inclusion in future updates to the tool. Two new awards providers were included in the September 2015 Update to Insight: the Princes Trust Personal Development and Employability Skills award and Open University YASS courses.
Education Scotland integrating DYW in inspection advice to schools;	Completed	The inspection advice note for schools for 2015/16 made specific reference to DYW. The new How Good is Our School 4 was published in September 2015 with a clear focus on employability and skills.
Scottish Funding Council early adopter activity on school/college partnerships undertaken in 7 college regions	Completed	In AY 2014-15, the Scottish Funding Council ( SFC) supported 7 college regions, in partnership with 9 local authorities and 61 schools, to develop 19 new courses at SCQF level 5 and above. These courses recruited over 290 senior phase pupils as part of pilots (called early adopters) to explore and develop new senior phase vocational pathways. An interim evaluation of the early adopter programme was published by SFC in November 2015 and a final report will follow.
Foundation apprenticeship engineering pathfinder projects undertaken in Fife and West Lothian	Completed	Two pathfinder foundation apprenticeships in engineering commenced in academic year 2014/15 with 75 pupils from secondary schools in Fife and West Lothian taking part. The second and final year of these pathfinders started in August 2015.

Key themes and milestones for schools

Achieving our ambitions for the young workforce requires a focus on the following themes by local authorities, schools and their delivery partners:

• Expanding the offer – increasing the routes from school into employment, or further and higher education which is closely linked to employment.
• Promoting and shaping the offer - engaging with young people, parents, teachers and practitioners, partners and employers.
• Supporting teachers and practitioners to develop children’s and young people’s learning about the world of work.
• Providing earlier relevant labour market focussed careers advice when young people need it, leading to better outcomes.
• Embedding meaningful employer involvement.
• Consolidating partnership working with colleges and other training providers.

The milestones set out below detail what this will involve over the lifetime of the programme.

During 2015-16 we are already seeing:

• DYW programme reflected in college outcome agreements and curriculum planning;
• Guidance on school/employer partnerships developed with input from employers, local authorities, DYW National Group and other partners;
• A new standard for work placements;
• Considerable scaling up of foundation apprenticeship pathfinders;
• Engagement with young people, teachers and practitioners, parents and employers to actively promote the range of options available;
• A new standard for careers education (3-18) for all young people is in place;
• Education Scotland published an aspect review of My World of Work;
• An interim evaluation of the early adopter programme published by SFC in November 2015 with a final report to be published early in 2016;
• A partnership baselining exercise undertaken to establish the nature and effectiveness of local authority-school-college partnership in relation to Senior Phase Vocational Pathways, with a national level analysis disseminated to partners in November 2015.

And in the remainder of 2015-16 we expect to see:

• An increase in uptake and attainment of vocational qualifications available to those in the senior phase;
• An increase in the quality and number of strategic partnerships between local authorities, schools, and colleges, to widen the offer to young people in the senior phase;
• DYW reflected in local authority strategic plans and opportunities taken to influence community plans;
• Guidance and support developed by Education Scotland and Skills Development Scotland for teachers and practitioners to support young people in S3 to learn about finding, applying and getting a job;
• Relaunch My World of Work website with a greater learner focus linked to career pathways;
• Guidance and support developed by Education Scotland and Skills Development Scotland for teachers and practitioners on the world of work aimed at ages 3-18;
• Lessons from Scottish Funding Council early adopter activity regions disseminated widely;
• A quality assurance review for the careers service as part of a continuous improvement regime is in place;
• The continued establishment of DYW Regional Groups working in partnership with local authority education teams across Scotland;
• Appropriate further measures of success for schools in relation to the DYW programme developed.

During 2016-17, we will see:

• An increase in the uptake of vocational qualifications available to those in the senior phase;
• Evaluation of the initial foundation apprenticeship pathfinders completed and evidence used to inform the development of an agreed model;
• More local authorities engaged in foundation apprenticeship pathfinders;
• Employability and enterprise professional standards in development;
• Education Scotland further develops its capacity to evaluate in relation to employability and employment;
• A new focus on work placements and the quality of careers guidance as part of secondary school inspection programme.
• New work experience model for young disabled people introduced and improved approach to careers services for young disabled people implemented.

During 2017-18, we will see:

• An increase in the uptake of vocational qualifications available to those in the senior phase;
• Further expansion of foundation apprenticeship across Scotland and covering other sectors;
• Delivery of mentoring support for young people in care as part of the Investors in Young People accolade;
• From inception the Insight online benchmarking tool reflects a wide range of awards, including a range of vocational qualifications, undertaken in schools or through school college partnerships where these awards meet the criteria for inclusion.

During 2018 – 2019, we will see:

• An increase in the uptake of vocational qualifications available to those in the senior phase;
• Pilot activity on foundation and advanced apprenticeships and equalities being rolled out across the country;
• All secondary schools will have active partnerships with regional colleges;
• Meaningful and productive school/employer partnerships operating in all secondary schools.

During 2019 – 2020, we will see:

• An increase in the uptake of vocational qualifications available to those in the senior phase.

During 2020-2021, we will see:

• An increase in the uptake of vocational qualifications available to those in the senior phase;
• Expanded provision fully embedded within Curriculum for Excellence, tested by Education Scotland, and valued by young people, their parents and teachers and practitioners as evidenced by uptake and outcomes.

Education Working for All! Recommendations

This activity delivers recommendations 1, 2, 3, 16, 26, 27, 28, 33, 37.

Measures ^[2]

KPI 1 - Be one of the top five performing countries in the EU for youth unemployment by reducing the relative ratio of youth unemployment to 25-64 unemployment to the level of the fifth best country in the EU by 2021.

KPI 2 - Be one of the top five performing countries in the EU for youth unemployment by reducing the youth unemployment rate to match the fifth best country in the EU by 2021.

KPI 3 - Increase the percentage of school leavers attaining vocational qualifications at SCQF level 5 and above by 2021.

KPI 6 - Increase the percentage of employers recruiting young people directly from education to 35 per cent by 2018.

KPI 10 - Increase the employment rate for young disabled people to the population average by 2021.

KPI 11 - Increase positive destinations for looked after children by 4 percentage points per annum resulting in parity by 2021.