Response to Lord Baker’s Career Colleges
Date: 21st October, 2013
For Immediate Release
Contact: Laura-Jane Rawlings
Mobile: 07748744049
Email: ljr@youthemployment.org.uk
We agree with Lord Baker that delivering a curriculum that is focused on both academic progress and developing employability and work skills that will be needed post education is essential.
Are Careers Colleges an idea that our membership would like to see come to fruition? We asked our young members and employer organisation what they felt about the proposed Careers Colleges and the responses were mixed, here is a selection:
Membership Views:
Jess Starns
23
6 months of paid work and 3 years of unpaid work
I think it’s a brilliant idea. Why can’t we have one Career College, a Studio School, one Technical
College, a College, a State School and an Academy in a catchment area? It will make more non-academic routes, so the young person can go through the right education that is right for them. It’s what parents look for if they can afford private school education.
By 14 young people might not know what they want to do but they have an idea of what they are good at and what they enjoy. High amounts of young people want to learn a trade, that’s why they mess about in abstract lessons. Young people might develop transferable skills for work. Young people might think actually I enjoy this part of my studies and could go on to further study being able to narrow down their route more. At GCSE you pick a small amount of subjects to study anyway. Most of mine have been irrelevant.
I believe that education from early years should fit the child.
Janet Colledge – Carers Guidance Specialist
The Govt has in place UTCs and Studio schools, both of which are already in existence and both providing more vocational education, thus I can’t see any possibility other than a ‘re-branding’ of existing and proposed UTCs & studio schools. UNLESS of course we are seeing a re-branding of pupil referral units.
My main worry is that most pupils will have had very little career education before having to make choices which could affect their life for many years to come.
Joan Goodger – Food Safety Trainer
“An excellent idea. Those young people for whom school, sixth-form or mainstream college is either not meeting their needs or retaining their attention.
I have taught young people at PRU’s, colleges, training centres, Prison Education, Juveniles, Young Offenders and on the NEET programme. There are a good few of these young people of whom this type of college would be life-changing for them.
Also, those young people who are gifted and talented but more ‘hands-on’ than academic are going to shine and realise their true potential and be happy in their learning.”Are the proposed Career Colleges in danger of creating greater confusion for parents and teenagers? How they will differ from Studio Schools or the UTCs?
We see an opportunity to focus on supporting existing schools and colleges to enhance their vocational, careers learning, enterprise and employability skills, supporting all students through successful transitions?
Existing programmes such as InspireEducation’s Employability Award, evaluate how well schools and colleges are preparing students for successful transitions. Coupled with the UKCES employer ownership of skills which supports employers to develop skills programmes specific to their sector, are already making an impact on the skills gap. Perhaps more can be done to support this existing investment?
Youth Employment UKCIC would be happy to support any proposed consultation on Careers Colleges’ and bring our members’ views to that consultation.
