What did you want to be when you were 14? I quite fancied being a translator, though I wasn’t sure how to get there. How much harder it is for today’s young people. As technology transforms the world of work, their perfect job might be one they’ve never heard of. Here in Greater Manchester, we’ve found a creative solution to that challenge.
Last week, we launched a new online tool – the Beeline – to give our young people a clear line of sight to high-quality jobs in our city region’s growing economy.
Named after the worker bee that symbolises Manchester’s spirit, the Beeline is part of our mission to raise the status and profile of technical education through the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate, or MBacc.
As regular readers know, this is an important year for the MBacc, our pioneering alternative to the university route. In July, 200 business and education leaders came together to help us develop our plans for the MBacc and in the coming academic year, schools and colleges will work with us to shape it further.
Unlike other education routes, the MBacc uses local labour market data to guide learners towards the subjects most valued by employers. It does this through seven gateways linked to sectors that are growing in the Greater Manchester economy – from financial and professional to construction and the green economy.
At the end of each gateway are jobs. Some, like corporate solicitor or rail engineer, may be familiar. Others, like retrofit co-ordinator or wind turbine technician, are less so. Talking to young people as we developed the MBacc, we realised that they needed help to visualise potential jobs and plan for their future.
It’s all very well showing them the steps to take to become a data analyst, broadcast technician or software developer. But what do those jobs involve day to day? How common are they in their city region? And crucially, what do they earn?
This is where the Beeline comes in. It’s the first tool of its kind to give young people real-time information about the jobs available in their region right now – including how in-demand those roles are.
It may sound simple – but it’s clear this is a gamechanger
We launched Beeline last week at Rayner Stephens High School in Dukinfield. A room of excited Year 10 and 11 students tested it out via out our careers website, GMACS.
By clicking on an MBacc gateway, they were shown the relevant courses and qualifications on offer at 14, 16 and 18 in Greater Manchester. They then zoned in on individual jobs in that sector and clicked through to real job adverts on the Adzuna jobs website, including (in most cases) salary details.
It may sound simple, but listening to the reactions in that classroom, it’s clear Beeline is a gamechanger. Every student I spoke to said the tool had opened their eyes to jobs and career routes they had not considered.
One hadn’t realised he could earn a good wage at 18 or work in engineering without a degree. Another, who’d been worried about the cost of university, was excited by the idea of a degree apprenticeship in finance management.
I’ve always said that, for the MBacc to succeed, it must be an equally prestigious alternative to the university route. Beeline proves you don’t have to go to university to get a well-paid job. And by proving the earning power of a technical education, it also helps make the economic case for why it shouldn’t be treated as second-class when it comes to education budgets.
I know there’s a lot of uncertainty and anxiety right now as the government conducts its one-year pause and review of level 3 defunding. Here in Greater Manchester, we also worried that thousands of young people don’t know what their post-16 options will be next September.
Despite these challenges, I’m optimistic about the future of technical education. With the right signposting, teaching and funding, I believe it can broaden horizons and transform life chances every bit as much as university
And by unleashing young people’s full potential, it can also help our new government in its mission to grow the economy.
To try the Beeline tool, visit: https://gmacs.co.uk/beeline/
Your thoughts