Taskforce Expert Working Group on Work Experience
A new vision for work experience and young people's experience
of the world of work
Background
The Taskforce's vision is that every school and college
has an effective partnership with employers to provide its
young people with the inspiration, motivation, knowledge, skills
and opportunities they need to help them achieve their
potential.
Work experience is intended to provide all young people with a
high quality experience of the world of work. Traditional work
experience (ten days in the summer for young people between ages of
14-19) forms a key component of partnerships between schools and
employers. This is long established and is the primary means by
which schools fulfil their statutory requirement to provide
work-related learning to young people. However while work
experience is known to be highly valued by the majority of
participants, the quality of the offer is recognised to be variable
and many employers find it difficult to deliver and are not certain
of the benefits to them. With curriculum change over the last
few years, it is becoming more important than ever that young
people have a broad choice of universally high quality work
experience. There is both the scope and the commitment among the
Taskforce partners to take action to improve the offer and the
experience for young people.
A preliminary discussion at the Taskforce Partnership Board
explored the context and raised some of the issues that the
Taskforce could helpfully address through the expert working group
as well as identifying some of the connections that need to be made
with other developments. This list is not exhaustive and the
working group will need to review and prioritise.
Issues:
Understanding the projected demand driven by curriculum change
and the dynamics of achieving volume in order to ensure supply of
appropriate and high quality placements keeps pace with demand
Understanding current supply of work experience placements from
private, public and third sector employers of all sectors and
sizes, obstacles to increased high quality provision and options
for tackling obstacles
Understanding the full benefits of work experience to all
parties, including a means of staff recruitment, improving the
motivation and employability of young people, and scope for work
experience to influence social mobility, considering the
implications of the range and quality of placements available
to disadvantaged students (Report of the Fair Access to the
Professions Panel chaired Rt. Hon. Alan Milburn MP, July 2009)
The Work Inspiration campaign to encourage employers to improve
the quality of work experience that they provide
The increasing demands on employers due to recent change to the
14-19 curriculum which have placed more emphasis on work related
learning and in particular work placements.
The links with careers education - information, advice and
guidance (linked to review that Deloitte are currently undertaking
for the Taskforce)
The quality of the experience from preparation, engagement and
support on the placement through to debriefing and feedback
The growth in mentoring schemes and how these can be used to
supplement or even replace elements of work experience
The vetting and OFSTED safeguarding requirements and amount of
time spent on Health and Safety checking (ref Sir Roger Singleton's
review) - danger of excessive requirements, misunderstandings
and exacerbating barriers [this is being considered by the
Taskforce's working group on standardisation]
The planned withdrawal of Edexcel as a major broker of work
experience nationally
Current developments and potential links:
The Work Inspiration campaign convened by Business in the
Community which includes many of the Taskforce's partners and
focuses on the quality of experience provided by employers and
innovative ways of providing high quality experiences of the world
of work.
The creation of the National Framework which groups
education-employer engagement under four main themes: leadership
and governance, enterprise and employability, supporting and
enhancing the curriculum and financial and in-kind support
The creation of the Institute for Education Business Excellence
addressing the quality of brokerage and leading the Taskforce
working group on standardisation
Curriculum change: the introduction of Diplomas developed with
employers through sector skills councils and young apprenticeships
- each of which place high value of work experience within the
learning experience
Programmes such as Career Academy UK which has brought a new
dimension to work experience in schools as an integral part of the
curriculum- also links to the longstanding approach of
vocational courses in colleges and to apprenticeships
The 2007 CBI report 'Time Well Spent' and production of a follow
up report 'Time better spent' currently being considered
The publication of the 2008 IEBE survey of 15,000 work
experience students
The Edge/YouGov 2008 & 2009 report on work experience and
employer engagement
The reports and expert knowledge of the IEBE National Work
Experience Practitioners group which builds on seven years work
The Information Advice and Guidance White Paper and the Deloitte
review on behalf of the Taskforce on the role of employers in the
provision of information advice and guidance and the delivery
of effective partnerships
The transfer of responsibility for commissioning education
business partnership arrangements from the LSC to Local Authorities
under the REACT programme.
In this context the Task Force has identified a need to
highlight and address the issues and seek to bring coherence to
support for work experience
Remit and Governance
The Work Experience Working Group (WEWG) is an expert group
convened by the Education and Employers Taskforce. It will produce
a report and recommendations for consideration by the Taskforce's
Partnership Board which will advise the Trustees of the Taskforce.
The Expert Working Group will report to the Taskforce Partnership
Board, meet as necessary to complete objectives, after which the
Group will disband.
The Work Experience Working Group will work closely with the
Standardisation Working Group being chaired by the IEBE which is
looking at options for reducing the bureaucratic burdens (variation
in practice in health and safety, CRB checking etc) on employers
supporting work-related learning, and work experience placements
specifically.
Objectives
To develop a new vision for work experience with recommendations
for action that would ensure that all young people have an
inspiring and worthwhile experience of the world of work.
Areas to be considered:
How employers of all sectors and sizes go about it - the offer
and the support to young people
How schools go about it - how to fit into the curriculum,
prepare and follow up
The process by which work experience placements are sourced
The age of pupils undertaking work experience and the duration
of placements
The variation of experience across schools and colleges with
different social mixes of students
The barriers that are encountered by schools and employers
What range of experience is available and how it can be
accessed
How to identify and communicate best practice, providing
guidance for employers and schools
Possible questions to be addressed:
What is work experience and what could it be?
What are the key aims of work experience?
Should the traditional two weeks be changed, perhaps to a series
of
work based experiences for example including work shadowing,
perhaps delivered at different times throughout the year and to
younger pupils?
What are the implications for work experience of Young
Apprenticeships and the Diplomas?
What is the current state of work experience? E.g. guidance,
providers, strengths and weaknesses? (To be provided by members of
the Partnership Board members inc IEBE, BITC and Edge)
How can it be brought together or co-ordinated?
When is it undertaken - can it be spread better to increase
availability and effectiveness?
What role does work experience play in motivating and inspiring
young people and how could this be enhanced?
What role could work experience play in improving social
mobility?
What barriers need to be tackled and how could they be
overcome?
How could it be delivered differently e.g. federated provision,
different ages and stages?
How can the link with IAG / careers be improved?
How can the link with employability be improved?
What role could mentoring play?
What are the benefits to employers - how could these be
enhanced?
What do young people want from their work experience?
How does it work for large national employers - how to ensure
local quality?
How to target schools in need of greatest help - e.g. National
challenge?
schools, most deprived areas, most remote?
Outputs:
A new vision for work experience with recommendations for
action. This would include a summary and review of recent research,
key statistics, trends and any evidence submitted to the Group.
Following consideration by the Taskforce Partnership Board and
Trustees a presentation of the final report to the high-level
education summit in summer 2010 with the senior respresentative of
education, employers , intermederies and Government
Good practice case studies for inclusion in the Teachers and
Employers Guides.
Membership:
Peter Lambert, Dep CEO BITC (Chair)
Shân Jones, Chair, IEBE (Vice-chair)
Joanna Lewis Special adviser to Sir Mike Rake, Chairman BT
Jenifer Ball, Education advisor
Fiona Murray, Private Equity Foundation
Richard Wainer, CBI
Jane Delfino, Principal Manchester Academy
Alan Thompson, DfE
Tim Hutchings, British Chambers of Commerce
Ian Duffy, BP
Charmian Roberts, IEBE