South West Regional Skills Enterprise and Employment Analysis 2007/2008

Final Report

8. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION

E Schools, 16-18 Participation, Apprenticeships, NEETs

E1 Issues

• A significant gap exists in the region between attainments of 5+ GCSE grades A*-C in comparison with 5+ GCSE grades A*-C, including maths and English. Some areas of the region have significant challenges in this respect.

• There has been a fall in the numbers of young people studying science subjects.

• Participation by 16-18 years olds in learning is declining. This appears to be linked to the growth in the number of NEETs and growth in the number of young people in jobs without training. Unemployment is also highest amongst this group. This trend needs to be better understood but may simply reflect rising unemployment and the fact that this will affect those with low-level skills disproportionately.

• Apprenticeships are not gaining popularity and the South West has many small employers who are less likely to take up apprentices. This is of particular concern given the proposed increases in apprenticeships proposed by the Leitch Review. At the same time employers are experiencing skills shortages, in particular in the skilled trades. There is a need to address access issues specific to particular sectors and low take-up rates. Links with the brokerage service will be critical.

• The percentage of the South West population aged between 16 and 19 that was classified as NEET in March 2006 for the South West was 6%, which is considerably less than the national figure of 7.9%.

• There is insufficient support for young people to enable them to make informed choices with respect to career paths. There is insufficient capacity amongst advisers, teachers and tutors to address effectively the poor image of the vocational route.

• Poor completion rates of educational and training courses in particular sectors is an issue.

E2 Recommendations

• The RSP and specifically the 14-19 reference group needs to have clear plans to support young people to improve their overall skills attainment and to understand the world of work.

• The RSP should assess the current provision for formal and informal mentoring models for practitioners, peers, professionals, advisers, teachers and employers so that employers can be engaged and young people have the information they need to make informed choices and subsequently develop further plans as required. Mentoring in particular has a critical role in supporting young people in making transitions into working life.

• The RSP should support and promote the work of the Regional STEM Centre to improve performance in these critical areas and should work with other regions and national partners to improve take up in these disciplines.

• The RSP needs to support actively the 14-19 Regional Advisory Group and promote the development of the new Diplomas in alignment with sector needs.

• The RSP should support the coherent development of partnerships between employers, consortia of schools and providers involved in the teaching of the first five Diplomas from September 2008.

• The RSP should work with SSCs in sectors with most skills shortages, to produce a good practice Guide to Small Employer Engagement for use by brokers and with employer networks to increase small employer engagement across the region from 2008.

• A range of partners currently contribute to supporting NEETs. The RSP should support additional co-ordination of effort might and ensure that NEETs is an issue which is within the new ESF framework.