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In this interim report, the findings reveal the importance teachers place on introducing children to the world of work. The survey asks 250 primary schools heads and teachers across England about their opinions on career learning in primary and its impact.

Headline findings: (1) The majority of teachers answering our survey believe children should be learning about the world of work and different jobs in their first years of primary school; (2) Overwhelming majority of primary schools were already carrying out activities with the aim of increasing children's understanding of the world of work; (3) Most primary schools have not heard about the Government's new Careers Strategy, which specifically mentions primary for the first time; (4) In line with our previous work in secondary, nearly all teachers in our survey agreed that introducing children to the world of work was important in: Linking learning to the real world and in doing so increasing motivation to work hard, Challenging gender stereotyping about jobs and school subjects, Broadening aspirations; (5) While teachers appreciate the importance of these activities, there are challenges which prevent them being organised on a regular basis.

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This chapter explores careers talks in schools to build on earlier work by the authors in light of new assessments of the impacts of careers activities on the economic outcomes of young people and how these activities can be best delivered. [The authors] were inspired by, among others, S. Jones et al. Which examines the reflections of 380 young adults on their school-mediated employer engagement experiences, finding that the clearest benefit lies in Cultural Capital, followed by Social Capital and then by Human Capital. While Kashefpakdel and Percy [2016] focused only on the wage premium associated with 'outside speakers,' two studies since have referenced it in the context of a broader set of careers-related activities in schools. The weak results for the school-led careers activities bear further examination. Various explanations present themselves for why school-led careers activities did not correlate more closely with wage outcomes, despite being structurally similar to other activities that were convincingly correlated.

Abstract from publisher's website.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 133.717. Show less

There is significant policy interest in the issue of young people's fractured transitions into the labour market. Many scholars and policy-makers believe that changes in the education system and labour market over recent decades have created a complex world for young people; and that this can partly be addressed by enhanced career education while individuals are at school. However, the literature lacks in-depth quantitative analysis making use of longitudinal data. This paper draws on the British Cohort Study 1970 to investigate the link between career talks by external speakers and employment outcomes, and finds some evidence that young people who participated in more career talks at age 14-16 enjoyed a wage premium 10 years later at age 26. The correlation is statistically significant on average across all students who receive talks at age 14-15; but remains the case for 15-16 year olds only if they also described the talks as very helpful.

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Recent UK government figures have shown that despite the overall number of apprenticeships increasing, the number of under 19s starts have stagnated at around 20 per cent. With the support of the Commercial Education Trust (CET), this project explores the characteristics of schools and individuals who buck the trend and asks: what distinguishes schools which guide significant numbers of pupils into apprenticeships from those which do not? What distinguishes young people who express an interest in apprenticeships in their mid-teens and go on to secure one from those who do not?

This report collates evidence from contemporary research literature and governmental reports as well as new quantitative data sources, and in doing so provides new evidence to schools and colleges seeking to optimise their apprenticeship guidance provision and improve the chances of young people making a smooth transition into apprenticeships. Whilst a long-lasting and sustainable strategy is needed to change the way apprenticeships are viewed by schools/colleges, parents and pupils, effective best practice can help to bridge this gap in the interim and go some way to increasing the percentage of school leavers starting apprenticeships.

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Essential skills are those highly transferable skills (listening, speaking, teamwork, leadership, creativity, problem-solving, aiming high, and staying positive) that everyone needs to do almost any job, and which support the application of specialist knowledge and technical skills. Essential skills matter and helping people develop them is a job for schools and colleges from the earliest age. The Skills Builder Universal Framework, launched in May 2020, sets out this framework of eight essential skills, providing a common language in which skills are described, understood and measured, and recognisable to both employers and educators.

This research aims to make a contribution to the gaps in the existing research base, particularly of longitudinal studies of the interplay of essential skills and other outcomes over time. Using the rich longitudinal data provided by the British Cohort Study (1970), with a particular focus on children and young people, the analysis shows a strong association between scores in essential skills and measures of literacy and numeracy at the ages of both 10 and 16, and a further association with career aspirations at age 16.

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This chapter focuses on the capacity of educational institutions to shape the social capital available to young people and explores how young people, of different social backgrounds, respond to such experiences. It explores whether access to school-mediated forms of social capital interact with existing levels of social advantage to multiply effects of comparative privilege. The chapter describes the impact of school-mediated action to enhance the work-related social capital of teenagers in the context of existing levels of family-based social relationships. It explains the relationship between access to school-mediated forms of social capital and outcomes related to its possession in the social context of the recipient. The chapter looks at the characteristics of young people who engaged in career talks and explores whether social background influences the level of later adult premiums received. It draws on data from the British Cohort Study 1970 to consider the impact of two forms of social capital encountered by teenagers.

Abstract from publisher's website.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 133.717. Show less

This chapter explores the evidence surrounding Schleicher's contention that episodes of employer engagement can impact on the academic motivation of teenagers by using the unique dataset on student attitudes and academic proficiency: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) own Programme International Student Attainment (PISA). It looks at the impact of both commonplace careers guidance activities and engagement with employers to further investigate the character of such relationships. The chapter seeks to build on the existing literature by specifically investigating hypotheses, exploring whether relationships can be drawn between participation in what the OECD describes as career development activities and both more positive attitudes towards education and improved academic achievement. It investigates whether participation in selected career development activities is associated with higher PISA mathematics scores. Work experience and other forms of employer engagement demonstrate to young people the links between what they do in the classroom and how those skills ultimately will be used in the labour market.

Abstract from publisher's website.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 133.717. Show less

This chapter looks at young adults' recollection of school and college action to prepare them for the working world and, using regression analyses, explores what schools did to help young adults succeed in the adult working world. It considers the responses of 1,744 young British adults who completed a survey created by the Education and Employers Research team working with Prue Huddleston. The chapter outlines the results from a 2016 survey of 1,744 young British adults aged 19-24. Employer engagement has become a commonplace aspect of schooling in Britain. The survey began by asking respondents to describe the types of employer engagement activities in which they took part whilst in secondary education between the ages of 14 and 18. Young adults who had experienced the greatest volume of school-mediated employer engagement activities came, on average, from more privileged backgrounds.

Abstract from publisher's website.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 133.717. Show less

This chapter addresses the difficulties faced by many UK secondary school students in securing meaningful workplace experience in a medical context and which specifically explores job shadowing as an option for resolving this problem. It focuses on the problem identified in the study: inequitable access to periods of work experience of value in progression to highly selective courses of study at elite universities. The chapter seeks to add to a growing literature exploring the issue of equity in employer engagement in education. It reveals a situation whereby links between secondary school students and employees within the National Health Service (NHS) are numerous but are clearly patterned by social relationships which are rooted in social class. In the medical profession, imbalance in the distribution of social capital is compounded by more structural educational inequality, such as universities offering places only to students with demonstrable workplace experience.

Abstract from publisher's website.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 133.717. Show less

This technical report, commissioned by the Careers and Enterprise Company, presents evidence that the research team at Education and Employers gathered on the operation and impact of transition skills events held in UK schools and colleges which underpins the guidance document 'What works?: the evidence on transition skills events (mock interviews and CV workshops)' [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 131.1020]. This technical report presents our of review the current evidence relevant to the design and effectiveness of employer led transition skills events such as mock interviews and [curriculum vitae] CV workshops. The findings provide schools and colleges with evidence to support the delivery of these events and activities. Transition skills events are focussed on improving the knowledge, attributes and skills a young person needs when navigating the jobs market and applying for jobs. Such recruitment skills - being able to present about yourself and highlight your appropriate skills in the context of a job's requirements in what is often a stressful environment - are critical to young people's success in obtaining employment.

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