Profound employer engagement in education: what it is and options for scaling it up

This paper aims to provide a critical review of research and public policy literature concerned with the characteristics of engagement between employers and schools, focusing on school provision for the age group 11-18: it does not examine provision in further education colleges or apprenticeships. Most of the literature reviewed for this paper concerns employer engagement in activities which support pupil progression (e.g. careers information and preparation for work). These activities are more common than employer engagement in teaching and learning or institutional operation. The paper begins by exploring in detail what ‘profound’ engagement looks like, what it can be expected to provide to young people and their institutions, and barriers to scaling up comparable levels of engagement across other parts of the English education system. The paper includes descriptions of a number of current approaches to employer engagement and ends with a brief overview of options for achieving profound engagement in schools other than University Technical Colleges (UTCs) and Studio Schools.

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