I wasn’t fully aware what the Access to HE qualification was when I joined an access validating agency seven years ago to develop and approve Access to HE courses.
My ignorance still niggles me today, because I know now it’s a qualification that truly changes lives.
The qualification began in the 1970s, when coal mines and steel works were closing and people needed a new start.
The government introduced Access to HE to encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds to enter teacher training.
It was created for those who had missed out on the traditional route to university – maybe due to family challenges, health issues, or life throwing a curveball.
It’s often described as the best-kept secret in the sector, a hidden gem – I really wish it wasn’t so hidden. But I think providers could change that.
So I’m asking the sector to look again at Access to HE, how we support learners, how it can be delivered to more learners, and how we explain its amazing value.
These learners aren’t your typical students. They’re a diverse group, often facing family challenges, health-related issues, or sometimes unimaginable experiences like fleeing their home country due to religious persecution.
I appreciate that retention rates can be a worry. A third of Access to HE students are still withdrawing before day 42 of their course, usually due to life challenges and not knowing what support is out there.
Learners need to know that support is available, and how the flexibility of Access to HE programmes allows them to catch up, rather than withdraw.
Promoting this effectively and reminding learners of it consistently can encourage more learners to stay the course.
Another challenge is explaining the loan offer which is actually really good.
Too many learners hear the word ‘loan’ and see it as a barrier. I know the mere mention of a loan puts many people off. With living costs rising they worry about taking debt on. But it’s important they understand that it’s fully written off if they complete a degree. And if they don’t, they don’t pay a penny back until they’re earning over £27,295 a year.
The way Access to HE is delivered is an important consideration – a blended approach is the best option in my view.
In our modern online world, e-learning is useful – it fits busy lives, and during Covid numbers spiked as more people studied at home. But in my experience, Access to HE learners flourish from the peer support they get from other Access to HE students, and the time and connections they have with their tutors.
So why does all this matter? Access to HE is truly life-changing – I have seen so many examples of lives being changed for the better. And the stats evidence that these learners stay in higher education and do better than those from other Level 3 routes.
Another impressive statistic is that 90 per cent of graduates with an Access to HE diploma are in work or further study within six months of graduation.
Access to HE offers people an opportunity to get higher-paid work or enter exciting careers and all of the knock-on benefits that brings for their families.
But if the sector doesn’t do more to raise its profile, I fear that Access to HE participation will decline.
I still don’t know why it’s not talked about as much as other options out there in the market, such as A-levels and apprenticeships. But I’m asking providers to look at raising Access to HE’s profile so more people know what it can achieve.
If we can help give more learners opportunities they thought were out of reach, then it’s worth real effort.
Averil Young reveals how she makes numbers meaningful to construction students – and is building up young women and people from minority groups who want to enter the trades
An estimated 60,000 more tradespeople need to qualify through our colleges and training centres to reach the government’s ambitious new homes target.
On the front line of building trades training is senior maths lecturer and trade union representative Averil Young, who is on a mission to show young people that careers in the building industry aren’t just for “naughty boys”.
From union battles to demonstrating maths in action on construction sites, she’s breaking down barriers one brick at a time at Eastern Education Group’s West Suffolk College built environment campus. Here, she outlines a typical Tuesday…
Construction Industry, Industry, Building – Activity, Construction Frame, Sunset
4.45am
I take my two labs, John and Nigel, for a long walk around the arable fields and lanes around my home near Bury St Edmunds. Seeing the sunrise and hearing the birds singing gives me the mental clarity I need to start my day. If I’ve got something on my mind, by the end of my walk it’s not a problem anymore!
After boiled eggs on toast, I drive to work. I’ve taught at West Suffolk College for about seven years since moving here from London to be with my partner, Malcolm. At first, I taught English, which is what I did my degree in. Then I got roped into teaching functional skills maths due to a shortage of maths teachers.
The college’s built environment campus feels like home to me because I was born into the construction industry. My father had his own concrete firm, so my earliest memories were spending weekends toddling around his yard in the Isle of Dogs.
West Suffolk College students on a construction site visit
8am
I’ve got emails to answer as part of my role as a University and College Union (UCU) rep. There are some tricky cases, but most questions put to me are around, ‘can an employee do this?’
I became a union rep after noticing a pay disparity in my department, which I felt strongly shouldn’t be allowed. If you’re doing the same job and have the same qualifications, you should be paid within the same clear banding. But at the time it partly depended on how you negotiated in your job interview.
Then the college announced that the pay rise that year was one per cent – crumbs off the top table. I hate injustice so I became a rep to make sure that we got a decent pay rise, and that pay banding became more transparent, which it has.
Averil with the door in her classroom that she uses to teach maths
9.15am
Most days I only teach in the mornings and spend the rest of my time supporting other staff with their training and development, fulfilling my rep duties and lesson planning. But today is Tuesday, a full teaching day.
I’ve designed my curriculum around showing students why maths is relevant to them. There are maths workbooks specifically designed for construction students, but they’re very outdated so I use my own materials.
My students dislike maths and have a fear of it, often because they’ve failed it, so there has to be a reason for them to do it. I show them that there’s a lot of maths in construction and I teach them using a lot of the same equipment they’re using in their practical workshops.
I’ve got a painted door that we use to mark out shapes on, a brick arch former, and a caliper to map out my brick size and how many bricks we’d need. Using those tools helps bring maths to life for them.
Averil’s students on a construction site visit
10am
Today we’re out in our minibus visiting the new ambulance hub being built in Ipswich. Mark, our head of construction, is driving us there. He lets me try out all my crazy teaching ideas!
I try to take all our students onto a construction site at least once a year. It opens their eyes to what life is like in the industry and the professional expectations required of them, as well as demonstrating real-world maths.
We can only take 14 students at a time because we can’t fit more in the minibus, but all the students want to go; they absolutely love it. Sometimes we use the trips as an incentive for good behaviour.
Before we enter, we all put on the necessary PPE: safety boots, trousers, high vis and hard hats. Some sites also insist on gloves and eye protectors.
The sites themselves are busy and potentially dangerous, so we talk to the students about workplace behaviour and go for a health and safety briefing in the site office. That’s brilliant because it’s reinforcing what we’re telling students in our workshops.
Students often say they don’t need to know maths because they can use their calculators on their phones. But today, they can see for themselves how phones are not allowed on the large sites because they’re seen as a distraction.
One builder shows them how he’s using the 3-4-5 construction technique based on the Pythagorean theorem to get accurate right angles.
The workers also show them site plans which are scale drawings, to work out how long a particular wall has got to be. The students look at how many bricks are needed for each wall, and are shown how the timber is measured.
I ask the students to point out other examples they see of maths being used around the site.
West Suffolk College students on a construction site visit
Midday
Back on campus, I always ask students for feedback about what they’ve learned. I also arrange for industry professionals to visit and deliver workshops on the importance of maths, as well as the attitudes and behaviours expected on site.
They might still say they don’t enjoy maths, but they leave with a clearer understanding of why it matters – and they come to the next lesson more engaged.
Every construction company that has hosted us has been brilliant with the students, but the industry still needs to work more closely with FE.
When it comes to maths, I think there’s more colleges could do to work with other industries too – taking catering students to visit restaurant kitchens and talk about proportional ratios in recipes, for example.
A construction site visit
1pm
I always bring my own lunch. Whenever I’m trying to be good, it’s a salad. But you know there’s a chocolate bar coming out later!
We’ve got a lovely staffroom where we sit together to eat, watch the news and have a good chat.
I’m guilty of sometimes catching up with work in my lunch break but I try not to. The more you do the extra work, the less likely the college is to employ more staff so it’s to your own detriment.
After lunch, I’m supporting a new teacher with behaviour management. Many people come into vocational teaching directly from industry, bringing with them fantastic knowledge and experience. But a classroom is a very different environment to a construction site, and new teachers often need support not just with managing behaviour, but also with developing effective teaching and learning strategies.
Helping them make that transition is key to building their confidence and ensuring they can engage and inspire their learners from day one.
2pm
For my next class, I’m teaching functional skills maths through the lens of financial literacy, so my students can learn how to budget for themselves. Teaching them about loans, credit cards and mortgages helps them to understand percentages.
They do a project to calculate how much they would need to save up to buy a house. We start talking about fluctuation in interest rates, and it turns out that a lot of them have never heard of interest.
They ask me, ‘why don’t they teach this in schools?’ I ask the same question. It’s super important that they understand these things, and it’s what they want to know.
Last week we discussed how much they would need to save up to learn to drive, buy a car and insure it, because they all want that. I went through the realities of how long it would take them to save – a long time!
Some of them said they would pay monthly, but they didn’t understand at first that a monthly payment is actually a loan.
Averil with some of her female built environment students
4pm
Before I head home, I have emails to send to some local schools. I’m pushing for more diversity in the construction industry, which is still white male-dominated.
Only one per cent of the jobs on the traditional trade tools are done by females and 12 per cent in the industry overall. And things aren’t changing quickly enough; of our 70 student brickies, only two are girls.
So I’ve started going into schools to run workshops on construction, particularly aimed at females and culturally diverse groups, to show young people the variety of careers that are available. My college leaders can see the benefits in terms of helping with student numbers.
There’s a massive skill shortage in construction, so we need to change the narrative about the sector.
A lot of our students haven’t attended school for a few years by the time they come to us, sometimes because they were excluded. I think some schools are still giving career advice of ‘you’re naughty, you can be a brickie’.
It’s time to say auf wiedersehen to that image, and see construction for the respected profession that it is and the diverse career opportunities that it holds.
School pupils and their teachers are often interested when I tell them about the variety of sector jobs – like being a drone operator on sites. They’re also surprised that bricklayers can earn a very decent wage – more than us teachers!
The response I’ve received in schools has been great, so I want to push forward with that work.
Averil’s students speaking at a women in construction event
4.30pm
I make some phone calls as part of the work that I do to support women in the construction industry. Helping women to improve their lives is something that I’ve always been passionate about.
In a previous role before moving to Suffolk I worked predominantly with women in the probation service in London. I learned a lot about women there – how we are repressed and how we suppress ourselves. I ran workshops on ‘Mr Right, Mr Wrong’ – red flags, as they call it now. Women sometimes can’t see a way out of something, but there always is a way.
Last year, I made it my mission to introduce my female construction students to positive role models in the industry. We managed to get tickets for the women in construction Anglia event and the girls loved it. It was really good for them to see other females doing what they do.
Last week we hosted our own women in construction event for the first time. When our female construction students started at college in September they were so quiet. Seeing them speaking at that event as confident young ladies was amazing.
Averil and her female students
5pm
I aim to finish at 5pm but, like everybody else, I might still be here at 6pm.
After enjoying a cottage pie for dinner, I end up watching the news. I promise myself I won’t because it depresses me too much but I can’t help myself!
I love my job because I’ve created roles within it that enable me to channel my energies into the things that I’m really passionate about – fighting injustice through my union work and promoting diversity through my school workshops and women in construction events.
No one asked me to do these things. I saw action was needed, and I’m fortunate to have been given the space in my work to champion what I believe in.
It is deeply troubling that nearly one million young people in the UK are now Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET). To address this, policymakers have introduced initiatives such as Youth Guarantee Trailblazers, Connect-to-Work and processes for early identification of at-risk youth. A key component of many of these efforts is the effective use and sharing of data between different organisations to identify and support youth who are NEET or at risk of becoming NEET. However, data-sharing is a lot more complicated than it appears.
NEET status often stems from multiple overlapping risk factors, including socio-economic barriers, mental health issues and educational disengagement. Various agencies—jobcentres, schools, colleges, and the NHS—collect relevant data, but commissioners in the recently launched Skills Commission inquiry, Earning or Learning: A New Agenda for Youth NEET Reduction, have highlighted significant barriers to accessing and sharing data across agencies.
The most frequently cited obstacle is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is a set of rules aimed at giving individuals more control over how their data is collected and used. GDPR is perceived as preventing frontline implementers from identifying individuals who may be NEET or at risk of becoming NEET. Fear of legal consequences discourages organisations from sharing personal data, leading to inefficient service delivery and missed opportunities for targeted intervention. However, our research suggests that the issue lies not with GDPR itself, but with a lack of clarity on how the law applies to frontline NEET reduction efforts. Three key challenges must be addressed.
Many local authorities lacking expertise
First, GDPR defines “processing” broadly, covering everything from data collection to analysis and sharing. This ambiguity creates uncertainty, making service providers hesitant to act for fear of non-compliance. Without clear guidelines on what constitutes permissible processing in the context of NEET reduction, useful data with one organisation remains inaccessible to others.
Secondly, many local authorities lack the expertise and infrastructure for secure data-sharing. Without proper training and investment, GDPR is perceived as a barrier rather than a framework for responsible and effective data use. Upskilling programmes for civil servants like One Big Thing should expand to local government officials as well.
Thirdly, confusion over the principle of lawful basis further complicates matters. GDPR requires a lawful basis for data processing. Many assume this means explicit consent is necessary for all data processing. However, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance clarifies that a public body having statutory responsibility to serve certain members of the public is a valid lawful basis. Yet, statutory responsibility for NEET reduction in the 16-24 age group is fragmented.
The Department for Education (DfE) issued updated guidance in 2024, giving local authorities clear duties covering NEETs up to age 18, but not beyond. The guidance instructs local authorities to establish data-sharing agreements with local education providers but omits other crucial stakeholders such as jobcentres and integrated care boards, which work with at-risk youth beyond the age of 18.
Additionally, GDPR’s necessity principle requires that data sharing be essential—not merely beneficial—to achieving an organisation’s objectives. The subjectivity of this principle makes it critical for the government to clearly define the lawful basis and necessity for data-sharing in NEET interventions.
Action plan needed
To address these challenges, the government must take enabling action. The Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) released guidance in January providing clear instructions and an understandable framework for data-sharing between Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service. Similar frameworks are needed across a broader range of organisations, including local authorities. The government should explicitly confirm that collective responsibility among agencies justifies data-sharing for NEET interventions, reducing confusion over lawful basis and necessity.
Finally, it must invest in local authorities’ data capabilities, equipping them with the training and resources needed to manage data securely and effectively. These will be essential first steps towards improving coordination at a local level to address the NEET issue – and for the government to live up to its rhetoric on an efficient state which uses data and artificial intelligence (AI) to govern better.
Whisper it but we may be entering a golden age of governance in FE.
One indication was a recent invitation for me to attend an Office for Students event on the future regulation of HE governance. It was gratifying to see this part of government looking to FE as a potential model for where good governance practice lies, alongside their live consultation around effective governance in HE. I wasn’t expecting that.
Comparison can too often be the thief of joy and FE too often compares itself unfavourably to schools and universities, as the ‘sandwiched’ sector. There are good reasons for that of course, including stark funding disparities. However, with governance perhaps FE is knocking it out the park right now, at least in comparison with our institutional counterparts.
I don’t have an evidence base at my fingertips but I have heard some pretty hair-raising anecdotes about underdeveloped and under resourced governance support in some very large multi academy trusts. Similarly, I’ve had FE college chief executives express incredulity at my desire to serve on a university board. Apparently, many vice chancellors will prioritise almost anything in their remit above the effective governance of their own institution. Perhaps that’s one reason why so many universities have found themselves in such dire financial straits. A grossly unfair caricature I’m sure, and offered at a highly social meeting of senior FE leaders I attended. But it got me thinking.
The government, the FE commissioner, the Association of Colleges and the Education & Training Foundation all need to share some credit for having invested in developing FE governance in recent years. National Leaders of Governance are an excellent resource for colleges for example, whilst the AoC and ETF run many programmes designed to support and develop governors. Messages about the central importance of the ‘triumvirate’ of chair, chief executive and the director of governance role (increasingly designated by colleges as a ‘senior post holder’ reflecting its level of strategic importance) are really beginning to cut through.
So, whilst never complacent, it looks like a good story for FE governance right now.
But where do we go from here?
Well, firstly FE needs to shout about something that it’s doing well. Humbly shout, maybe, if that’s not a contradiction in terms – offering our support, insights, services and partnership to schools and universities.
Secondly, chairs and governors need to continue to join up with each other in local and regional areas to pool the message and evidence that good and active governance is helping to get ahead of future organisational and operational challenges. This message needs to be packaged up and communicated to government at official level, through the place-based teams and the FE commissioner and her team. This could be supported by the AoC’s National Chairs’ Council which I’m pleased to have recently joined as a member.
Thirdly, college chairs need to be paid. If you don’t pay them, you risk the hard-won gains that have been made in recent years slipping away. There are a whole host of arguments in support of paying chairs – they are important roles, with serious accountability for often large and complex businesses. For organisations operating on the scale of most colleges in this country they need to be treated more like a part time job, albeit one without executive responsibility rather than in the spirit of community volunteering which is the prevailing attitude in many parts of the country. I hope that government says something about this sooner rather than later but colleges shouldn’t wait for ‘permission’ to proactively decide to pay their chairs.
If FE governance can secure for itself this strong and confident platform – reassuring government that it is actively supporting the sector’s resilience and effectiveness through periods of future growth and challenge – then it could seek to also have a national policy ‘voice’ alongside our principals and chief executives, advocating for positive change in the areas we are all familiar with including funding, qualifications and curriculum and the size and shape of the FE estate.
At that point you wouldn’t need to whisper that FE may be entering a golden age of governance – the noise would be so loud everyone would hear it!
Aside from my day job, I’ve spent a wonderful decade volunteering with the Scouts. Helping young people develop confidence and a sense of belonging is rewarding and much needed. Youth organisations like the Scouts, cadet programmes, sports teams, and mentoring initiatives provide essential support systems. Yet outside these spaces, many young people turn to social media for guidance.
Netflix’s Adolescence dragged this issue into the public awareness with a powerful portrayal of how social media can shape young people’s lives with devastating consequences. The show’s popularity highlights concern that disengaged young people are retreating into online spaces with their own hierarchies and behavioural codes. Adolescence explores this to its most extreme and tragic conclusion. But why are young people going online in the first place?
A lack of positive role models
Sir Gareth Southgate is a rare example of a leader who has redefined masculinity through empathy and teamwork. He recently stressed that young boys especially need to learn that it’s ok to fail. He warns: “Callous, manipulative, and toxic influencers willingly trick young men into believing that success is measured by money or dominance, that strength means never showing emotion, and that the world, including women, is against them.”
It’s easy, and perhaps more palatable, to blame social media and push for smartphone bans. This might play a role. But any long-term solution must also involve listening to young people to understand the problem’s root causes.
Another part of the puzzle: Youth voice
Too often in education, adults make decisions in policymaking echo chambers with little input from young people. Young Lives, Young Futures, a six-year ESRC-funded study led by King’s College London and Edge, aims to change that by putting youth voice first.
In our 2023 report, ’Schools for All?’,we examined young people’s experiences of alienation in the English secondary school system. Research revealed that nearly half of young people 15-16 found school neither enjoyable nor meaningful but something to be endured, with pastoral care taking a backseat to exam results. Most concerning was that young people from low-income and minority ethnic backgrounds, those identifying as LGBTQ+, those with SEND, and those reporting poor mental health felt the least seen by teachers.
More recently, Young Lives Young Futures focused on the under-researched ‘missing middle’ – the 40 per cent of young people who are neither pursuing university routes nor classified as NEET (not in education, employment or training). This group faces unique challenges, typically leaving school at 16 to enter the workforce or take up apprenticeships. Unfortunately, the research again highlights issues at the intersections of class, SEND status, academic attainment, and geographic location and how these shape access to vocational education and employment. Young people who grew up in extreme poverty, act as carers, or have been involved with the criminal justice system often describe being written off as “the troubled kid who can’t be helped.”
If you faced all these barriers to success, wouldn’t you feel lost, angry, and alienated? It’s hardly surprising that online influencers resonate with young people by voicing their frustrations and offering easy solutions.
Shared responsibility – it goes beyond formal education
Young Lives, Young Futures focuses on areas like education, employment and access to opportunities. But the principle behind it – listening to young people – is relevant everywhere. Today’s young people face challenges greater than any in living memory. The legacy of COVID lockdowns, a highly volatile job market, and the most uncertain global outlook since WWII are creating huge disillusionment. Factor in the complexities of social media, and there are no easy solutions.
Crucially, our research shows that more affluent young people have better access to support. It’s perhaps not surprising, then, that social media is filling some of the gap for disadvantaged groups that lack consistent external support systems. In this sense, the problem of social media and the so-called ‘manosphere’ is fast becoming a class issue.
The education system needs change. But with influencers taking the lead online, that’s not enough on its own. Southgate uses his platform to push for healthier role models. I want to do the same in all aspects of my work. But to ensure young people – regardless of background – have equal support, we need teachers, youth workers, coaches, parents and mentors actively helping however they can.
It’s time to start listening – really listening – to young people’s lived experiences instead of assuming we have all the answers. We must also look at how our education system can better support them emotionally and socially. Finally, through mentoring and positive role modelling, we must help them feel valued, empowered and able to succeed. None of this is easy. But as Adolescence shows, the alternative is not an option.
It’s no wonder last month’s Ofsted reform proposals put an emphasis on inclusion. Governors simply MUST check how leaders are translating values and intent into action, especially with transgender awareness and policies.
Exclusionary politics are emboldening direct discrimination against transgender people in particular.
Right now the world is a frightening place for transgender and gender divergent people, with global leaders effectively seeking to erase transgender rights and also intersex people – due to insistence on a biologically binary approach to sex, and gender.
These are the T and the I in the LGBTQIA+ acronym.
Statistically, research shows that intersex, transgender and otherwise non-binary people account for approximately 4 per cent of the UK population, with scientific evidence showing they are biologically different, and historical evidence showing they have existed all around the globe forever.
That’s one in 25 of all people.
Furthermore, 23 per cent of the Gen Z population in the UK are using a they/them pronoun to one degree or another, according to one study.
This is clearly of significant importance in the FE sector, especially now with the radical political shifts in the US, coupled with the rise of the populist right here in the UK. There is a very real and significant threat to transgender and otherwise gender divergent students, and staff, that FE institutions must be prepared for.
What can be done?
Education is key. It is absolutely vital that when conflicts and tensions arise, teaching staff must be properly informed and have the confidence to intervene.
If there is any ambiguity on their part around policy and facts it could result in escalations and added complication, not to mention the additional distress a delay to step in would cause – both to transgender learners and to those of opposing belief systems.
We must remember that the sector has a responsibility to protect all learners from harm, not just those we agree with, regardless of their beliefs.
Sex, gender and belief are all protected characteristics.
If teachers are unsure of the facts, then ambiguity can be a barrier to effectively and calmly diffusing conflict.
For example, if a cisgender learner complains that a transgender learner is using ‘the wrong’ bathroom, what is the college’s policy around this? How is this to be handled?
What happens when a learner misgenders another, and when challenged cites free speech? Or religious beliefs?
With all the current tensions – for example at the University of Sussex, which has just been charged a record £585,000 fine for not upholding freedom of speech – governors must ensure that leaders are asking, and answering, all of these questions. And they must ensure that ALL staff are adequately trained to manage these situations.
Given the lack of understanding around this topic, with only binary biology taught in early years education and many totally unaware of the prevalence and types of intersex, the whole arena is on shaky foundations. It really is a case of going ‘back to basics’.
It’s necessary to ensure that all staff revisit ‘what they think they know’ in order to have the levels of confidence required in this topic, and to adequately support learners.
When I speak to staff prior to my training, it seems many are confused and even conflicted, often wanting to be inclusive yet simply not knowing how to be.
Effective training can remedy this and it’s great to see staff empowered by facts.
Additional SEND focus
Ofsted said in their proposals that they will “in all cases include a new focus on inclusion”. Inspectors will “look at how well providers support vulnerable and disadvantaged children and learners, including those with SEND”.
The specific reference to SEND is welcome, and there is an overlap between gender diversity and neurodiversity, with transgender people being three to six times more likely to be autistic.
This makes gender diversity especially important for colleges with SEND provision to understand.
Understanding and supporting learners appropriately is vital, which in turn means supporting staff to do so. Because the fine line between free speech and hate speech, and facts and misinformation, is getting harder to navigate.
Enterprise education, which helps develop young people’s entrepreneurial skills, is not part of the national curriculum.
The experience of young people moving through our education system is therefore frustratingly patchy. We believe this has led to a huge, missed opportunity within an education and skills system that isn’t adequately preparing young people for entrepreneurship.
Our research at FSB, in association with Simply Business, finds that while nearly 60 per cent of young people express an interest in owning a business, only 16 per cent have done so. Young people have entrepreneurial ambitions but this isn’t being sufficiently recognised by the government. And that needs to change.
So how can we turn that aspiration into reality?
It’s vital that enterprise education is valued throughout the education system. At a time when changes to the national curriculum are being considered, we need the government to make sure enterprise education is embedded into it, starting from key stages 1 and 2.
The curriculum should be reflective of the education and skills needed in employment, self-employment and life. Initiatives can be brought in, such as adopting an ‘Entrepreneurship Month’ during the academic year, to celebrate UK entrepreneurs and include activities like careers talks, persuasive writing challenges and entrepreneurship competitions. Some schools and colleges already do something similar.
Supporting schools, colleges and employers to guarantee two weeks’ worth of mandatory work experience for every young person would give an early, positive introduction to the workplace and provide a flavour of what it’s like to run your own business.
It’s important that we’re also equipping young people with the financial skills they need. Almost one-in-five young people say improved financial education in school and college would help them to set up or grow a business. We want to see the Department for Education making it compulsory for secondary and primary schools to deliver effective financial education at key stage 2.
The curriculum and assessment review is also an opportunity to consider whether those entering key stage 4 have basic digital skills and to review the current computing offering – which hasn’t been updated since 2013. We’d like to see the introduction of an applied computing GCSE, in addition to computer science, focussing on the digital skills required in the workplace and including the basics related to AI.
Role models can be a huge inspiration to pupils and students. We found that over a third of young entrepreneurs did not get guidance or support from local entrepreneurs coming into their school or college.
We know small business owners, including our members, love giving back to their community but often don’t know how to get involved. Giving business owners opportunities to share their experience can be so powerful in encouraging and inspiring budding young entrepreneurs.
Our data suggests young people mainly receive enterprise education through studying for qualifications such as GCSEs, showing the importance of incorporating entrepreneurship through subject study. Interestingly, sixth form and further education colleges are less likely than schools to expose young people to enterprise.
The Careers and Enterprise Company must play a role by actively recruiting young entrepreneurs as enterprise advisers, who play an instrumental role influencing and designing careers programmes in schools and colleges.
At university level, many institutions provide support for their students, alumnus, and sometimes to start-ups in their local community. Over a third of young people who attended university say it provided them with the knowledge, guidance and support regarding setting up a business.
But this support is patchy depending on location. In London, for example, 52 per cent report exposure to enterprise compared to 18 per cent in the South West. There’s opportunity here to improve collaboration between universities that run student entrepreneurship programmes with those that offer little or no support.
Ultimately, providing these skills early in the education process, then cementing and expanding them in higher education, would help increase the number of fledgling young business owners growing the economy. We know the ambition is there amongst young people – they must be given the support to take the rewarding, yet sometimes daunting, step into entrepreneurship.
When was the last time you went for a day without writing? In December last year, I read an article about a Canadian linguist and writer Gretchen McCulloch. The gist of her opinion was that due to the internet and technology, we all write more than perhaps people would have a few generations ago.
McCulloch explains how our texts, chats and posts are quick, conversational and untouched by the hands of an editor.
And yet, our own government has just removed the mandatory requirements for English and maths functional skills qualifications for apprentices aged 19 plus.
Short term-thinking? Well, yes, as the twin pillars of English and maths skills are essential to career progression. They are not going to be obsolete by the end of this year.
What happened to talk of “driving up standards?” A default phrase commonly used by education ministers regardless of which political party they are aligned to.
It is well known that low English and maths skills can also detrimentally impinge on education prospects and mental health, as well as employment opportunities.
With whom did the government consult before making this decision?
Surely, as a major international economic power and part of the G7, we need to raise our game on these crucial subjects. If we want to remain at the top table of global nations in increasingly competitive times, having staff well qualified in two of the most important subjects seems like a no-brainer.
McCulloch’s authoritative voice should make even the most hardened politician reconsider their decision.
This is not about turning learners into the next JK Rowling. But let’s be ambitious. A young person might have lofty goals and aspire to one day move from a construction site to running a company with hundreds of staff.
At the initial stage of self-employment, a business plan and start-up loans might be needed. Both require competency in verbal and writing skills, and meetings with business advisors, bankers and accountants.
The once young learner has developed into a mature managing director, responsible for the livelihood of their team. They cannot be the leader of the organisation without telling their team clearly what the vision and aims of the company are. They also need to excel at problem solving, communicating and making effective decisions.
And those who work in industry with apprentice learners no doubt need to update their learner records on e-learning platforms, from reviews to individual learning plans, setting targets and more.
It concerns me that future generations could have less developed English skills, which could be the difference between progression with higher earning potential, and plateauing, feeling stuck and unfulfilled.
It is not essential to know what an adjective or a noun is. No one will get sacked for not remembering this from their school days. That said, thinking that you can leave school or college and no longer worry about your writing skills is pure folly. It is a skill that needs to be embraced and taken seriously.
When was the last time that you wrote something?
Probably within the last few hours, on your mobile phone.
It would seem all of us are writers, even though we don’t know it.
Schools and colleges have been criticised by Ofsted for “poor” levels of collaboration in ensuring students from disadvantaged backgrounds have good careers advice.
Inspectors believe good guidance is an “essential tool” for opening doors to meaningful career opportunities for students from this group, who appear to be represented at higher rates in FE colleges.
But most students told inspectors and researchers they “could not remember” careers guidance at school, with most choosing FE colleges based on their peers’ choices or because of its convenient location.
College leaders also reported that more students than ever are enrolling “without any idea” of courses or careers they wanted to pursue, placing more pressure on staff to provide advice.
Despite the concerns, around four fifths of students felt “supported and well prepared” for their next step after college and said careers guidance made them “more confident and resilient”.
Careers advisors – both specialists and college staff – were “central” to them developing knowledge and skills for their next steps.
Lee Owston, Ofsted’s national director for education, said: “We know how beneficial careers guidance is for all students, particularly those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who may need more support to achieve their career aspirations.
“It’s reassuring to hear that, despite the challenges, students were very positive about the guidance they received post-16.”
Recommendations include finding better definitions and guidance to help identify students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, further study of what careers guidance works best, improve collaboration with schools, and investigating less traditional work placements that would appeal to employers and benefit more learners.
The report is based on 28 research visits to FE colleges, sixth form colleges and secondary schools, holding discussions with principals, careers advisors, 250 students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and a survey of 241 parents from the schools and colleges.
It is the third in a series of studies of careers guidance that that DfE commissioned Ofsted to produce since 2022.
Here are a few key findings:
Go beyond ‘tick box’
The report praised colleges with an “overarching” careers strategy involving collaboration between employers, teaching staff and careers advisors, and found that careers guidance worked best when it was integrated into a course rather than an isolated provision.
However, it added: “For too many, the careers offer was ad-hoc and generic – more of a tick-box exercise than something designed to meet the career expectations of students, particularly those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.”
Even those with a more varied range of careers activities were often “rudimentary and lacked coherence”.
Those doing better work had a strategic plan that tended to successfully collect information about students facing “financial hardship” at enrolment and made strong links with students’ careers aspirations, meaningful work experience and work or study options after college.
In some cases, work experience included industry workers coming in to teach lessons or teachers returning to work in their industry as part of their professional development.
Information sharing woes
Colleges reported it was “difficult” to collaborate with schools their students come from, making it harder to identify students from lower economic backgrounds.
The report said: “College leaders were particularly concerned about limited data sharing from schools, which they told us sometimes prevents effective collaboration.”
But inspectors found that none of the college leaders were aware of the Department for Education’s get information about pupil (GIAP) service and few matched postcodes with deprivation data to assess which students could benefit from more support.
Lower socioeconomic backgrounds not always priority
Many colleges told researchers that they did not have specific careers guidance for lower socioeconomic groups because they considered most 16- to- 18-year-olds are “disadvantaged in some way”.
While some do target some specific groups that are “disadvantaged” – such as those with special needs or have been in care – these learners often benefitted from additional funding streams.
Some leaders were also concerned about labelling students “and potentially lowering expectations”.
But researchers Ofsted are “concerned” that many students are only receiving “generic careers guidance” which is “of variable quality” and does not meet students’ expectations.
Recruitment
However, colleges and local authorities are “struggling to recruit” qualified level 6 careers advisors due to a shortage of staff, so find other ways to “plug the gaps” such as through untrained but experienced staff.
Work experience
Most colleges reported a shortage of work experience placements for level 1 and 2 courses or T Levels due to the timing and supply in the local area.
This put students from a lower socioeconomic background “at a further disadvantage”, as they often struggled to afford to travel further from the college, live in areas with fewer placements and lack family members with knowledge or contacts to organise relevant placements.
Since the Covid pandemic, many businesses have moved to virtual working making it even harder to find placements.
The report praised colleges that have moved away from “box-ticking” work experience to more flexible ways to involve employers, such as careers fairs, guest talks, alumni-run workshops and visits to workplaces.
‘We will strengthen careers education’
A spokesperson for the Department for Education, which guides national policy on careers guidance and funds both the National Careers Service and the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC), said: “This government is determined to break down barriers to opportunity for all our young people and transform their life chances.
“This will help open up more opportunities for people from all backgrounds to access the skills and training they need to succeed.
“We’re determined to change the fact that many young people leave school without accessing work experience and expert careers advice.
“So we will offer two weeks’ worth of work experience for every young person and improve careers advice in schools and colleges.
“Through our new Youth Guarantee every 18-21-year-old in England will have help to access an apprenticeship, quality training and education opportunities or help to find a job.”
A spokesperson for the CEC, which supports schools and colleges to deliver ‘21st century careers education’, said: “For our part, we will continue to work to strengthen careers education in FE through careers hubs (which have been shown to make a difference) and wider partners.
“We will also seek to develop initiatives targeted at disadvantaged young people, like the Effective Transition Project, which has helped learners find secure destinations.”
