Scotland Performs Update

National Outcome: We are better educated, more skilled and more successful, renowned for our research and innovation

Developing the Young Workforce ( DYW)

Background

• Developing the Young Workforce ( DYW) is Scotland’s youth employment strategy which aims to reduce youth unemployment levels by 40% by 2021.
• The strategy aims to provide an excellent, work relevant education offer to young people in Scotland, giving them appropriate skills for the current and anticipated jobs market.
• This includes:
  • Creating new vocational learning options
  • Enabling young people to learn in a range of settings in their senior phase of school
  • Embedding employer engagement in education
  • Offering careers advice at an earlier point in school
  • Introducing new standards for careers guidance and work experience.

Budget

• £1.952m

Achievements

• The overarching DYW target to reduce the level of youth unemployment (excluding those in full- time education) by 40% by 2021, was achieved in May 2017—four years earlier than anticipated.
• The baseline for the target was January-March 2014, where the level of youth unemployment (excluding those in full-time education) stood at 52,000. For this target to be met, the level of youth unemployment needs to fall below 31,000. The level is now at 27,000.
• Whilst this is a significant achievement, it remains important to continue the long term programme plans to strengthen education and skills partnerships and embed system change, as evidence tells us this is not yet fully established.
• Other successes to date include:
  • Delivery of a 120% increase in the number of senior phase enrolments on vocational courses since 2013-14 levels, including the development of a new qualification—the Foundation Apprenticeship
  • Significant expansion of Modern Apprenticeships, with 26,262 Modern Apprenticeship starts in 2016-17
  • Establishment of 21 Employer-led Regional Groups
  • Development of a new careers standard in schools.

Key partners

• COSLA
• Skills Development Scotland
• Scottish Funding Council
• Education Scotland.

Delivery

• The good progress being made on the seven year DYW programme has been achieved via a strong partnership effort between the Scottish Government, local government and many other partners across the education and training system, as well as Scotland’s employers.
• Together with COSLA, whose valuable joint leadership of the programme remains central to its success, at a national, regional and local level, the Scottish Government continues to:
  • Enable young people to learn in a range of settings in their senior phase of school
  • Embedding employer engagement in education
  • Offering careers advice at an earlier point in schools
  • Introducing new standards for careers guidance and work experience.

Contribution to other National Outcomes

• DYW is about early intervention on youth unemployment. It is about changing how we work together across the education and training systems to create the best opportunities for our young people:
  • Transforming how employers and educators work together to create the workforce of the future
  • Expanding the options for work-based learning
  • Changing how we value vocational opportunities for those young people who choose to progress through alternative pathways into sustainable employment.

The project contributes towards other National Outcomes, such as:

• We realise our full economic potential with more and better employment opportunities for our people.
• Our young people are successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens.
• We have tackled the significant inequalities in Scottish society.