AYRSHIRE COLLEGE OUTCOME AGREEMENT Raising Aspirations Inspiring Achievement Increasing Opportunities.

Transcription

1 1 AYRSHIRE COLLEGE OUTCOME AGREEMENT Raising Aspirations Inspiring Achievement Increasing Opportunities

2 2 Ayrshire College Outcome Agreement

3 Contents Introduction 4 Ambitious for Ayrshire 4 Meeting Scottish Government ambitions 4 Supporting Community Planning Partnerships 5 Strategic engagement with employers 5 Communicating with stakeholders 5 About Ayrshire 6 Population 6 Areas of deprivation 6 Economic profile 7 Skills and qualifications 8 School leaver destinations 9 Unemployment 10 Building on evidence 10 Right learning in the right place 11 Curriculum geared toward labour market opportunities 11 Realignment of provision 11 STEM 11 Hospitality and Tourism 12 Health and Social Care 12 Land-based provision 12 Towards the Ayrshire classroom 13 School College partnerships 13 Supporting communities 13 Supported Learning 14 Supporting looked after and accommodated children and care leavers 14 Articulation and progression patterns 15 Engaging with students 15 Tackling inequalities 15 3 High quality and efficient learning 16 Quality enhancement approaches 16 A Developed Workforce 17 Contributing to economic development in Ayrshire 17 Enhancing engagement with a clear, ambitious strategy 17 Developing Ayrshire s workforce 18 Employability provision 19 Modern Apprenticeships 20 Business Solutions commercial income 21 Efficient regional structure 22 Organisational Review Culture and communication 22 Strategic planning process 22 Sustainable institution 23 Efficiency savings and financial management 23 Carbon footprint 23 Estate development 24 Non-SFC income 24 Student funding and capital expenditure 25 ANNEX KEY MEASURES 26 FOR Effective and sustainable institutions 26 Right learning in the right place 27 High quality learning 28 A developed workforce 29

4 4 Introduction Ambitious for Ayrshire 1. The Outcome Agreement (OA) for will be underpinned by the College s ambition to be a seven star college built on the following foundations Excellence in learning and teaching with centres of excellence in Engineering, Health and Social Care, Hospitality and Tourism, and Computing and Digital Technologies An excellent reputation locally, regionally and nationally Excellent partnership working with community planning partners, employers, universities and schools Highly skilled staff, sector leading estates and industry standard facilities Provider of choice for learners pre-entry, on course and pre-exit Partner of choice for employers in developing their workforce and their business Financial sustainability, value for money and effective use of resources. 2. The vision of the College is to raise aspirations, inspire achievement and increase opportunities. Raising the aspirations of our students and staff to set ambitious goals for their learning and future careers, complemented with the right support to enable them to achieve these, is a key aspect of our vision. The College also seeks to contribute to raising the aspirations of the people, communities and employers across Ayrshire, helping all to achieve goals important for their success. As well as increasing opportunities for our students and staff, we will work with partners and employers to increase opportunities which will benefit the wealth of the regional economy and the wellbeing of local communities 3. Ayrshire benefits from significant commitment and drive from stakeholders in the private, public and third sectors, and the College will continue to be a conscientious, strategic partner working towards shared goals. In particular, working with partners across Ayrshire, we will meet the skills need of the region by preparing young people to enter, remain and flourish in work. The College will also support businesses seeking to develop their existing and future workforce. Ambitious for Ayrshire, we will contribute to an enterprising, innovative region by helping our students to adopt entrepreneurial approaches that contribute to them being the most successful learners, employees or business owners they can be. Meeting Scottish Government ambitions 4. Ayrshire College will contribute to many of the Scottish Government s National Performance Indicators, in particular to ensure we are better educated, more skilled and more successful; that young people are successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens; and that we realise our full economic potential with more and better employment opportunities for people. The College welcomes the recommendations of the Interim Report from the Commission on Developing Scotland s Young Workforce, most of which we are already progressing in our partnership work with schools, employers and stakeholders. Ayrshire College Outcome Agreement

5 5 5. Ayrshire has experienced the highest rates of all-age and youth unemployment in Scotland for many years, well before the start of the economic downturn in The College is contributing to meeting the objectives of the Scottish Government s youth employment strategy, in particular the commitment to provide 16 to 19 year olds a guaranteed place in education or learning through Opportunities for All. Working with Community Planning Partnerships and national agencies to help young people into employment, the College is extending the offer available through the Strategic Skills Pipeline, encouraging employers to make young people their business and promoting the range of support available from all partners. Supporting Community Planning Partnerships 6. The College will continue to play a vital role in the three Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs) which cover Ayrshire and is fully committed to helping each to achieve the objectives set out in their Single Outcome Agreements. Through the Principal s role as a member of the three CPP Boards, the College will identify how college resources can be utilised effectively in order to avoid duplication and develop a coherent targeted response to community need based on neighbourhood planning. Strategic engagement with employers 7. Close and effective work with employers is built into the mindset of the new College and we will build on the progress we have made in this area. At a strategic level, the College is an important partner in all of the main business-led structures across the region. The College is a member of the Ayrshire Economic Partnership (formed in 2009 and comprising senior figures from the three CPPs, the business community and national agencies), a strategic partner of the Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and a member of the CPPs economic development boards. Communicating with stakeholders 8. Elected members have a keen interest in how the College is supporting people living in the areas they represent. The Chair and Principal have already had a series of individual meetings with MSPs and MPs serving Ayrshire, and have agreed to meet them three times a year to discuss how the College is progressing locally and across the region. Engagement with the three Council Leaders is ongoing through the Ayrshire Economic Partnership, CPP Board meetings and many other opportunities. 9. Since vesting day on 1 August 2013, significant and impactful efforts have been made to raise awareness of the new college and the possibilities it presents to the people, communities and businesses of Ayrshire. Work will continue throughout to increase awareness further of the opportunities presented by the College. This will include a series of engagement events with key partners, continued and enhanced use of social media to reach young people and employers, and ongoing positive coverage in the local press.

6 6 About Ayrshire Population 10. Scotland s Census is the official estimate of every person and household. Estimates of the population relating to Education and the Labour Market from the 2011 Census were published in November It demonstrates that there are both similarities and differences across the three council areas. 11. Ayrshire s population has been relatively stable over the past decade, though there have been important changes in the age profile of residents. The number of children under 5 and adults of prime working age has been falling, with growth concentrated amongst years olds and the over-55s. Ayrshire s population has fewer people in their twenties and thirties than Scotland and more people in their fifties. The percentage of the population aged 16 to 44 is a concern and indicates an increasing number of people in the prime of their working lives are leaving Ayrshire. 12. Census 2011 showed that the population age profile differs from the Scottish average in a number of areas. Other than in South Ayrshire, the percentage of 5-15 year olds is higher than the Scottish average; for all three local authority areas the percentage of the population aged 16 to 44 years old is less than the average for Scotland; and across the region the percentage of people aged over 60, particularly in South Ayrshire, is higher than the Scottish average. The increase in the percentage of 5-15 year olds has implications for the College in relation to supporting increasing numbers of school leavers across the region in the period covered by this OA. 13. The profile of the College s student population shows that a higher percentage of students in Ayrshire are aged 16 to 19 and live in deprived areas than the rest of Scotland, and that nine out of ten students at Ayrshire College live in the region. Table 1 demonstrates the residence of students on our three main campuses. Table 1 Residence of students by campus Campus From EA From NA From SA Other From EA From NA From SA Other Ayr 25% 10% 57% 7% 28% 10% 56% 5% Kilmarnock 59% 17% 15% 9% 59% 17% 16% 8% Kilwinning 9% 72% 6% 14% 9% 73% 7% 7% Areas of deprivation 14. The Ayrshire region has 64 SIMD datazones of the 10% most deprived SIMD datazones in Scotland, which means that ten per cent of the most deprived datazones in Scotland are in Ayrshire. The picture varies across the three local authority areas with 32 of those datazones in North Ayrshire, 21 in East Ayrshire and 11 in South Ayrshire. Ayrshire College Outcome Agreement

7 7 In some areas, the College has had very good results in attracting young people from the most deprived areas. However, this is not consistent across all campuses and we will work with CPP partners to ensure we fulfil our targets for this. The College will also support the neighbourhood planning approaches adopted by the Community Planning Partnerships to target resources where need is greatest. Economic profile 15. In relation to the industry sectors in which Ayrshire residents are working, the Census shows that the main sectors are health, retail, manufacturing, construction and public administration/ education. The percentage of the working population employed in manufacturing (9.7%) is significantly higher than the Scottish average (7.7%), as is the percentage of working in health (17.5% vs 15.0%). There is also a higher percentage of the working population employed in retail (16.3% vs Scottish average of 15.0%). More recent labour market analysis illustrates that health (20%), retail (13%) and manufacturing (10%) are the largest employing sectors in the region, demonstrating a significant increase in employment in health, a more modest increase in those working in manufacturing and a significant fall in the proportion of the working population in retail. 16. The most recent School Leavers Destinations Return (SLDR) from Skills Development Scotland on the initial destinations of young people who left school between August 2012 and July 2013 shows that the main sectors in which school leavers across the Ayrshire region enter employment and training are hospitality and tourism (14.2%), retail (12.7%), construction (11.1%) and engineering (10.9%). However, there are significant variations between local authority areas reflecting variations in the local economies across the region. The top occupational area for school leavers in East Ayrshire was retail, in North Ayrshire it was engineering, and in South Ayrshire it was hospitality and tourism. Ayrshire s rurality, particularly in East and South Ayrshire, is apparent in the proportion of school leavers moving into the occupational area of animals, land and environment. 17. In relation to the occupations of the working population the Census illustrates that, of the three local authorities, South Ayrshire s profile is closer to Scotland s. The profiles for East and North Ayrshire are similar with the highest percentage of occupations being Skilled Trades; Professional, Elementary; Caring, Leisure and Service; and Associate Professional and Technical. Generally, East and North Ayrshire have a lower percentage than the Scottish average working in management, professional and technical, and associate professional and technical occupations. They also have a higher percentage employed as process plant and machine operatives, and in elementary occupations. The percentage employed in the three local authority areas in skilled trades and the care and service sector is significantly higher than the Scotland average. 18. Ayrshire College will continue to support the key economic sectors identified by the Scottish Government, as well as sectors of particular relevance to Ayrshire identified by the College and its partners. The College already has a focus on Engineering, Hospitality and Tourism, Health and Social Care and Sports and Leisure, and curriculum provision for is being aligned to offer further support for these areas. Attention on these sectors has been reinforced by the Ayrshire Economic Partnership as key to economic growth across Ayrshire.

8 8 19. At a local economy level, research conducted in 2013 by the North Ayrshire CPP concluded that specific growth in employment is predicted in the engineering, social care, hospitality and tourism, and construction sectors. Alignment of the curriculum, reflecting both regional and local requirements to prepare young people for employment in these sectors, will ensure that College provision matches labour market demand. Skills and qualifications 20. The Annual Population Survey (Jan-Dec 2012) showed that more school leavers are entering Further and Higher Education since the start of the recession both in Ayrshire and Scotland, fewer school leavers are going directly into unemployment, and there are fewer young people aged in Ayrshire with higher level qualifications relative to Scotland. 21. There is also a higher percentage of the working-age population with no qualifications and a lower percentage educated to degree level and above. Results from Census 2011 in Table 2 demonstrate that East and North Ayrshire each have considerable challenges in relation to the high percentage of the population with no qualifications and lower than Scotland average percentage of the population whose highest qualification is degree level and above. Table 2 Census 2011, Highest qualification attained Campus EA NA SA Scotland Percentage with no qualification Percentage with highest qualification attained Level Percentage with highest qualification attained Level Percentage with highest qualification attained Level Percentage with highest qualification attained Level 4 & above Note: Highest level of qualification is defined as: Level 1: O Grade, Standard Grade, Access 3 Cluster, Intermediate 1 or 2; SVQ level 1 or 2, SCOTVEC Module, City and Guilds Craft or equivalent Level 2: Higher, Advanced Higher, CSYS; SVQ level 3, ONC, OND, SCOTVEC National Diploma, City and Guilds Advanced Craft or equivalent Level 3: HNC, HND, SVQ level 4 or equivalent; other post-school but pre-higher Education qualifications not already mentioned Level 4 and above: Degree, Postgraduate qualifications, Masters, PhD, SVQ level 5 or equivalent; Professional qualifications 22. In each of the CPPs, there are many similarities in what FE and HE qualifications school leavers choose to study. The top five subject choices across Ayrshire are Engineering; Science and Maths; Arts and Social Sciences; Social, Caring and Advisory; and Construction. Ayrshire College Outcome Agreement

9 9 School leaver destinations 23. The School Leavers Destinations Return, published in December 2013, shows that the percentage of school leavers entering positive destinations increased in each of Ayrshire s three local authority areas compared to the previous year. North and South Ayrshire experienced increases of over four percentage points. Table 3 Positive destinations of school leavers, Change on East Ayrshire 88.4% 89.9% 90.8% 0.9 percentage points North Ayrshire 90.7% 89.7% 93.8% 4.1 percentage points South Ayrshire 89.7% 88.5% 92.8% 4.3 percentage points Scotland 88.9% 89.9% 91.4% 2.5 percentage points 24. In relation to positive destinations of school leavers, North Ayrshire is 2.4 percentage points (pp) higher than the Scottish average, South Ayrshire is 1.4pp higher and East Ayrshire is 0.6pp lower than the average for Scotland. In relation to all 32 local authorities, North and South Ayrshire improved their ranking (ninth and twelfth respectively) although East Ayrshire moved from 17th position to 23rd. 25. When the figures for the three areas are aggregated, they demonstrate that seven out of every ten school leavers in Ayrshire (2,771) entered Further Education (51%) or Higher Education (49%) (FE is defined as studying non-advanced qualifications at college; HE as studying HNC or above at college or university). 26. Of the 1,362 leavers who entered HE, 30% studied their qualifications at college which means that nearly two thirds (65.5%) of Ayrshire school leavers chose to study FE or HE qualifications at a college upon leaving school. Of the 407 leavers who undertook an HE qualification at a college, 62.4% chose Ayrshire College. 27. Of the 1,409 leavers who undertook an FE qualification, 86.5% opted for Ayrshire College. Where school leavers selected a college other than Ayrshire, it was typically one of the Glasgow colleges. 28. School leaver destination data is captured at a local authority level and there are some significant differences across the three Ayrshire councils. For school leavers entering HE, East Ayrshire is 5.0pp below the national average of 36.5% and sixth lowest in Scotland; North Ayrshire is 0.8pp below the national average; and South Ayrshire is 0.5pp higher than the national average. For leavers entering FE, Ayrshire overall has a higher percentage than the national average of 27.8% (East Ayrshire by 9.8pp; North Ayrshire by 8.2pp; and South Ayrshire by 5.6pp). 29. There was, however, a less positive picture for leavers entering employment or training with East Ayrshire 3.6pp below the national average, North Ayrshire 4.3pp below the national average and South Ayrshire 5.3pp below the national average.

10 10 Unemployment 30. The challenges facing Ayrshire in relation to unemployment, and youth unemployment in particular, are widely understood and a matter of great concern to the College, Community Planning Partnerships and other partners. The rate of youth unemployment, as reported using the limited measure of year olds claiming unemployment benefit, is high for each local authority but particularly in East and North Ayrshire. Despite falls in recent months in the rate of year olds claiming Jobseekers Allowance, unemployment rates remain higher than pre-recession and the number of long-term unemployed young people is rising. North Ayrshire continues to experience amongst the highest rates of youth unemployment in Scotland. 31. In relation to the SLDR, for school leavers entering unemployment and seeking work, East Ayrshire is 1.1pp higher than the national average of 7.1% and eighth highest in Scotland; South Ayrshire is 0.8pp lower than the national average; and North Ayrshire is 2.0pp lower than the national average and tenth lowest in Scotland. Building on evidence 32. There are rich sources of evidence at a local and national level which are valuable in helping the College to understand the challenges facing individuals, communities and the local economies. This includes the Regional Skills Assessment in preparation by Skills Development Scotland (SDS). The College has had constructive discussions with SDS about access to its analytical services. The work done by the CPPs on local labour market analysis, neighbourhood planning and the collation of evidence to demonstrate the diversity of need amongst different communities will be invaluable in enabling the College to target those in the most deprived areas. 33. With a new Planning and Performance function, supported by a new single MIS system, the College will enhance its own evidence base and capacity to analyse information and trends about our student population. Critically, we will share this with our partners as we plan, through the partnership structures in place, to best use our collective resources for the benefit of Ayrshire s people, communities and economy. 34. Complemented by our involvement in the partnership structures in place, this intelligent use of information will contribute to shaping and monitoring the targets we set for achieving the key priorities which underpin this Outcome Agreement. Ayrshire College Outcome Agreement

11 11 Right learning in the right place Curriculum geared toward labour market opportunities 35. The College will focus on providing people with the right skills at the right time informed by, and responding to, the needs of the region s employers and CPPs. We will test our annual plans for course provision with the strategic networks we engage with, the rich sources of labour market intelligence available to us from local and national partners, and through our ongoing liaison with employers across all sectors. 36. Strategic engagement with employers and CPP partners throughout 2013 provided the College with comprehensive evidence to support a major realignment of core provision to support the skills needs of the region. The organisational review undertaken in will introduce a new business model to deliver curriculum activity and services which are relevant, fit for purpose and meet the demands of students, employers and communities. A critical success factor for the college is to have the right people with the right skills supporting students in the right place. 37. Involving stakeholders in our self-evaluation and curriculum delivery planning process was a great success, and this will be enhanced further throughout While the College will continue to support skills needs for sectors where there is an ongoing requirement for replacement jobs, new provision planned for will support key industry sectors across Ayrshire, particularly those for which job growth opportunities have been identified. 38. What follows is a summary of important developments in curriculum delivery for , with an indication of developments for This is not exhaustive; our comprehensive curriculum delivery plan contains full details of provision in each curriculum area for Accompanying the realignment of the curriculum is an estates plan which will ensure that students learn in environments which raise their aspirations, inspire achievement, and are relevant to the workplace. Realignment of provision STEM 39. The main emphasis of the STEM curriculum in is to standardise delivery across the College to ensure students have a consistent high quality experience and achieve industry-relevant award. Responding to feedback from employers such as Glaxo Smithkline and Amp Control, we will increase the breadth and depth of the overall curriculum by adding courses at various levels and disciplines. 40. At our Aeronautical Engineering Training Centre we will establish an Composite Materials Centre of Excellence for Scotland (accredited by the National Skills Academy for Process Industries) and integrate composites into a range of courses. This will expand our aeronautical provision to meet future demand of employers like Spirit Aerosystems, who have already indicated that they will recruit apprentices in The College will explore the possibility of accreditation to offer EASA Part 147 Aero Licensed examinations, which would complete our training package for the aerospace industry. To support employers like Glaxo Smithkline and UPM, we plan to introduce Instrumentation and Control qualifications in

12 In response to opportunities for growth in the renewables sector and the need for skilled entrants, the College will introduce further qualifications to the curriculum portfolio to support progression for students which will enhance their employment prospects. We will continue to work with the wind turbine industry to establish links for our students which lead to on-site training and employment opportunities. We will explore the introduction of a PDA/HNC Renewables and links with Scottish Rural University College (SRUC) and the University of the West of Scotland (UWS). 42. Local labour market intelligence has identified demand for facilities management courses to support the construction industry and we aim to introduce these from We will also explore the introduction of F Gas / HVAC courses for Hospitality and Tourism 43. In the College will extend Hospitality and Tourism course provision to the Kilwinning campus to meet demand from employers in North Ayrshire. This will be supported by the installation of state of the art training kitchens and a training restaurant. On the Ayr campus, we will move the delivery of Hospitality courses to the Riverside building, upgrade kitchen equipment and install a new training restaurant. Provision will be increased from August 2014 on the Cumnock campus, supported by the installation of a casual dining restaurant. From 2016, the new Kilmarnock campus will offer world class facilities in Hospitality provision. Changes in delivery for this campus will be reflected in the curriculum delivery plan. 44. The College is working with awarding bodies to streamline qualifications and ensure clear articulation routes for students. Consultation with employers through Taste Ayrshire, a consortium of the top hospitality businesses in Ayrshire focused on promoting Food Tourism in the region, supports the introduction of Housekeeping and Accommodation Management qualifications to support a range of occupations in the hospitality and tourism sector. These developments will contribute to the industry s aspirations for high quality service. In addition to full-time provision in this area of the college activity, more Modern Apprenticeships will be offered. Health and Social Care 45. Priorities in the Health and Social Care curriculum will include ensuring there are clear progression and exit routes for students, standardising delivery of HNC Care and Administrative Practice across the three main campuses, and enhancing provision at the Kilwinning campus. Estates developments will take place on the Ayr Campus to bring learning in a care setting to a standard that is fit for purpose and reflective of the enhanced provision. 46. In response to the high demand for Introduction to Counselling evening classes in Kilwinning, a full-time HNC Counselling course will be introduced on that campus. Evening provision for HNC Social Care will be introduced in Kilwinning due to increasing demand from employees from care establishments across Ayrshire. The College will continue to work with care sector partners and industry practitioners to develop tele-health care expertise across the region. Land-based provision 47. Responding to employer feedback, the College will offer a second NPTC Tree Surgery course at our Craig campus. Local intelligence demonstrates that this is a growth area, with local businesses Ayrshire College Outcome Agreement

13 13 expanding as a result of acquiring major railway maintenance contracts. Destination data for this course is very strong with 100 per cent of completing students last year gaining employment, many of whom started up their own tree surgery or landscaping business. Having recently acquired Lantra approval to support Modern Apprenticeships in Horticulture and Greenkeeping, the College will encourage employers to offer these to their employees. The College is also working with SRUC to enhance progression opportunities for students who wish to develop their learning and skills further. Towards the Ayrshire classroom 48. The College has developed strong partnerships with all local authorities and schools in Ayrshire to optimise pupil choice. Amplifying the recommendations of the interim report from the Commission on Developing Scotland s Young Workforce, the College introduced the concept of the Ayrshire Classroom in September 2013 to head teachers across the three local authorities. There has been significant buy-in from the local authorities to rub out the lines between institutions, provision and delivery, and offer a wide range of learning opportunities at a range of levels to support individual need. 49. The College is working with the three local authorities, as they make progress on enhancing their respective school estates, to identify how to make best use of our collective resources to support more effective transitions for school pupils. This includes being involved in the early design phase of new school buildings such as the new Ayr Academy which will be built on land between the College and UWS, as well as considering how to be more innovative in using existing school and college estate to support our shared commitment to the principles underpinning the Commission on Developing Scotland s Young Workforce. School College partnerships 50. In , in line with the direction of travel articulated in the interim report of the Commission on Developing Scotland s Young Workforce, and responding to the demand demonstrated by CPPs, there will be a significant increase in the College s three main campuses in the number of learning opportunities offered to schools, from 47 programmes to 95 and representing 5,880 SUMs. As well as offering an increase in successful programmes such as Games Development, Motor Vehicle and Construction, there will be additional Advanced Higher and Higher provision. 51. The College already offers a successful Performing Engineering Operations programme, where S5/S6 pupils attend school for three days a week and college for two days. This model will be introduced to subject areas such as Hospitality and Creative in We also plan to offer HNC courses over 2 years for S5/S6 pupils from Supporting communities 52. In , the College will increase provision to 3,000 SUMs to address demand from the CPPs and JobCentre Plus to prepare people for learning and/or employment by developing their confidence and essential skills, as well as providing vocational tasters where appropriate. ESOL activity will

14 14 continue with the College introducing Life in the UK classes to support the compulsory external examination for anyone wishing to apply for the right to remain in the UK. In relation to evening class provision, in addition to summable activity, the College will offer a range of full cost-recovery courses such as British Sign Language, Simple Suppers and Motor Cycle Maintenance. Since its formation, the College has identified a changing trend with reduction participation in evening class provision. Changes to the criteria for Individual Learning Accounts appears to have resulted in less take up in areas such as Hair and Beauty where up-skilling courses were generally in high demand. The College will work with partners, employers and stakeholders to ensure that evening provision meets their needs, as well as the needs of the communities it serves. Supported Learning 53. The College will rebalance provision for supported learning across the main campuses to reflect the needs of individuals. A small increase in full-time programmes will be offered at the Ayr campus, and a slight increase in part-time provision will be provided at the Kilwinning campus to help current students with transitions from full-time courses into community provision or supported employment. 54. We will work with CPP partners to achieve positive outcomes for students. A new range of vocational DPG18 programmes branded as Routes to will ease transitions for supported learning students into vocational courses. The vocational elements of the courses will be delivered by the relevant subject area, and the personal development elements and Personal Learning Support Plans delivered by access and inclusion staff. 55. Evidence from the Equality Challenge Unit suggests that 21% of Ayrshire students declared a disability in 2012, the second highest rate in Scotland. The College will continue to work with East Ayrshire Council and partners to support Project Search to give students with learning disabilities the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the workplace. Launched at University Hospital Crosshouse in December 2013, Project Search is a collaboration between East Ayrshire Council, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, Ayrshire College and the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability to help year olds who have learning difficulties, or are on the autistic spectrum, to build skills for employment. Through a combination of classroom sessions and hands-on work placements at the hospital, the project will assist students in their last year of education prepare to find a job. Supporting looked after and accommodated children and care leavers 56. Ayrshire College has been awarded The Buttle UK Quality Mark for Care Leavers in recognition of its support for young people in and leaving care. The College currently supports 113 young people identified as being looked after, looked after and accommodated, or care leavers. 57. Student Services provides impartial advice on course of study to students and specific advice on financial support. Other support services are offered on an individual basis appropriate to personal circumstances. This support can be accessed directly from Student Services by students. The College supports vulnerable groups and has a remit to support students who are looked after, looked after and accommodated, or care leavers. The engagement with external partners and agencies is critical and the College works in partnership with schools, Skills Development Scotland and local authorities. Ayrshire College Outcome Agreement

15 15 Articulation and progression patterns 58. The College will work with partner universities to increase the number of students at SCQF Level 7 and 8 articulating onto degree level course with advanced standing. Good relationships already exist with the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) and Glasgow Caledonian University in relation to articulation routes for HN achievers, and efforts will be made to consolidate these into targets for articulation. The College will also continue discussions with the University of Strathclyde to become a partner in its Engineering Academy, to allow applicants to the university to complete an HNC or HND at college before attending university to compete a degree. 59. In addition to articulation agreements, the College has been provided with 39 guaranteed places from UWS encompassing a range of provision. This SFC initiative will span a three year period and the College will work closely with UWS to ensure positive progression and transition for students. 60. Working in partnership with UWS, the College delivers a BEng and BEng (Hons) in Aircraft Engineering. The College also has partnership arrangements in place with the Open University to deliver degrees in Social Science and in Criminal Justice Studies. Engaging with students 61. Listening and responding to the student voice is key to the College s success and we will continue to prioritise the engagement of our students in all aspects of the life and work of the College. We will further develop our engagement with the Student Association and develop our strategy based on the Scottish Student Engagement Framework, created with partners such SFC, Sparqs and Colleges Scotland. The College will continue to support the development of capacity of the student body. 62. Focus groups will be an important aspect of communication, allowing students to share views and consider issues such as provision and delivery. We will also involve students proactively in the development of a range of College plans and projects, as well as campus and cross college committees to ensure that the student voice is heard and acted on. 63. With enhanced staff resources and software systems, the College s quality directorate will carry out regular surveys of our student population in relation to satisfaction, retention, destinations, etc. Tackling inequalities 64. The priority actions and outputs outlined in this Outcome Agreement are underpinned by the College s equality outcomes that Ayrshire College: Is an inclusive organisation which respects and encourages diversity in all of its activities Advances equality of opportunity for all students and staff who share particular protected characteristics to participate in College life and achieve positive outcomes Promotes wellbeing to improve the positive mental health of students and staff Increases male and female student participation in subjects where they are underrepresented. 65. The College will build on our ground-breaking work in introducing shared campus-based posts with partners such as Police Scotland and NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

16 16 High quality and efficient learning Quality enhancement approaches 66. Quality enhancement will underpin everything the College does. Our activities will be driven by the core principles of Education Scotland s National Framework of how well learners are progressing and achieving high quality learning; how well learners are engaged in their learning and the wider community of the college; and how well the College is led. 67. The College initiated a quality review process in November 2013 to engage with curriculum and service staff to have a regional strategy for Quality Learning and Teaching Enhancement in place for roll-out from the academic year. A key priority of the College for is to have a quality enhancement ethos underpinned by effective quality systems and processes, and built in partnership with staff, students and stakeholders. Significant progress on this was made through the self-evaluation process in which was led by the senior management team with active participation from cross-college curriculum and services staff, students and employers. 68. As we develop our strategies for self-evaluation with a continued focus on quality assurance and enhancement, we will build on strengths identified in recent Education Scotland review reports for the Ayrshire region which highlighted a range of initiatives which demonstrated a culture of high quality and efficient learning. These included the promotion of learners wider achievement, learner engagement, engaging learners in portfolio review, and self evaluation. 69. The Quality Enhancement directorate is working in partnership with the ICT team as progress is made on developing a single MIS system in order that it supports the generation of consistent regional reports on enrolment, retention and student outcomes which can then be benchmarked against national data and used for trend analysis. The College is using QDP software for student satisfaction surveys and is participating in a national user group with QDP and other colleges to develop software to tie in with the Education Scotland Framework Quality Indicators from This will enable us to extract responses from questionnaires for specific national indicators, thereby enhancing our intelligence. 70. The College will continue to develop itself as an intelligent organisation which analyses data and information to ensure that improvements are made to the student journey and that solutions are found to problems identified. The establishment of a performance and planning team, supported by data analysts, will ensure consistent, reliable and relevant information is available to staff and stakeholders. An early priority of this team will be to develop partnerships with their counterparts in the three local authorities and Skills Development Scotland to make use of all available data to report on how the College is contributing to the targets in the Single Outcome Agreements of the Community Planning Partnerships, as well as measuring progress on our Regional Outcome Agreement. 71. Qlikview software will be implemented in 2014 to support real-time analysis of College information in an easily accessed and understood format. Information and data will be available to curriculum teams to ensure that they have a clear understanding and ownership of all college data related to learning and teaching. 72. Common systems will be introduced in for key academic processes such as attendance and withdrawal, assessment and appeals, academic malpractice and self-evaluation. The College will continue to work with SFC and other sector partners to develop more effective systems for gathering post-course destination information and articulation data. Ayrshire College Outcome Agreement

17 17 A Developed Workforce Contributing to economic development in Ayrshire 73. Although Ayrshire continues to deal with the consequences of the industrial decline of the 1980s, opportunities for economic development exist. For example, the Scottish Government s decision to support Prestwick International Airport presents an opportunity for partners to build on renewed optimism to focus efforts on this important resource. Ayrshire has two of the fifteen strategic locations across the country that make up Scotland s four Enterprise Areas Life Sciences in Irvine and Aerospace in Prestwick. The region continues to have a strong engineering base, with many companies critical in the supply chains of key sectors such as Oil and Gas and Renewables. The region s land and marine resources allow Ayrshire to produce high quality food and drink products, and its natural beauty and cultural heritage contribute to a growing tourism industry. The College will build on our track record of meeting the skills requirements of many businesses in these sectors by becoming even more proactive in addressing their current and emerging needs. Our focus is on ensuring that our core curriculum and bespoke provision produces skilled individuals who make a positive impact in their place of work and a contribution to growing Ayrshire s economy. 74. The College contributes strategically to economic development across Ayrshire by playing a full and proactive role in key groups already established to support this. The Chair and Principal are members of the Ayrshire Economic Partnership, a strategic pan-ayrshire group which focuses on economic development across the region and which is supported by the political and executive leadership of the three local authorities. The College is one of Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry s strategic partners, and the leadership of the Chamber has a strong College influence (its President is the Vice-Chair of the College and the College Chairman is a member of its Board). College senior managers are involved in the leadership of industry-led groups such as Taste Ayrshire and, through our role on CPP Boards and sub-boards which focus on economic development and employment, the College supports economic development at both a regional and local level. Enhancing engagement with a clear, ambitious strategy 75. As part of our strategic planning process, the College is developing a comprehensive engagement plan which will demonstrate to employers how we intend to make their business central to our business. The College will host a series of strategic events with employers each year to ensure that our plans and provision are driven by their needs, and that these needs influence the curriculum we offer and the resources we invest in to support that. Each year the College involves employers in sectors relevant to all subject areas in our curriculum planning and self-evaluation processes. This ensures employers have the opportunity to evaluate existing provision for quality enhancement, as well as being able to determine new provision based on projected skills needs for their sectors. 76. The College will build on the industry skills forums it has already established to bring together businesses in particular sectors to understand common needs and offer training on an economy of scale. Outcomes from the College s Aerospace Skills Forum included a Performing Engineering Operations course which acts as a practical enhancement for HNC students. The College s Wind Turbines Technologies Forum developed the Wind Turbine Technology Diploma which forms the educational component of the Wind Turbine Modern Apprenticeship. The College leads the

18 18 Ayrshire Engineering Forum and has made considerable progress in enhancing course provision in this area, designed to take account of general and specific requirements such as CNC programming which has been identified as an area of jobs growth in Ayrshire. The College is also an active contributor and partner in the Energy Skills Partnership and has been successful in receiving substantial contributions to staff development and resource requirements for this important industry for Ayrshire. As we develop our employer engagement strategy, we will consider whether there is a need to establish further skills forums for other industry sectors. 77. Through Phase 1 of the Organisational Review during , the College enhanced the staffing resource to ensure that employer engagement receives the attention required. To track this engagement effectively and ensure we use the information we gather effectively, the College has invested in a relationship management system to ensure we join up all employer-related activity. This will, for example, record which employers have been asked to provide work placements for students and those who have provided these, businesses which have started apprentices or offered work experience to students taking part in employability courses, and companies which have been invited to participate in college engagement events. 78. We will connect our own intelligence to that collated by others. For example, as a strategic partner of Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce, we are able to access its membership database and, as a partner in Team North Ayrshire, we will be able to engage directly with its 190 account managed companies. These resources will enable us to engage a larger and more diverse group of employers in our annual self-evaluation and curriculum planning processes. It also enables us to communicate our ask of employers in relation to providing work placements for students, Modern Apprenticeship places and work experience for unemployed young people on Employability Fund courses. Developing Ayrshire s workforce 79. Preparing people, particularly young people, to enter, remain and progress in employment underpins everything that Ayrshire College does, and the College has a critical role to play in developing the region s young workforce. In addition, the College is emerging as the provider of choice for skills support to enable employers across Ayrshire to develop their current workforce. This support manifests itself in a variety of ways, for example helping young people develop the employability skills that help improve their work readiness, supporting Modern Apprentices in a range of industry sectors, providing well qualified students equipped with the skills demanded by the workplace they enter, and offering bespoke training to develop existing employees. 80. Ayrshire College engages with a wide range of employers in the private, public and third sectors. The businesses we work with are diverse in terms of sector, size and location and we have developed a range of engagement methods to support this diversity. Through ongoing engagement with employers, business organisations and those leading on economic development in the three CPPs, the College has rich intelligence on the skills needs of employers in the key sectors identified as important to Ayrshire s economy. Ayrshire College Outcome Agreement

19 We have tested this against the findings of the skills investment plans produced by SDS and industry sector skills reports produced by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. We are working with strategic partners in the CPPs and in the business community to deliver on these skills needs. Employability provision 82. Although youth unemployment has been decreasing in recent months, East and North Ayrshire continue to experience amongst the highest rates in Scotland. The College will work closely with the CPPs and Local Employability Partnerships to design provision that supports the needs of young people in their area. The College offers employability provision through a range of mainstream courses, as well as courses funded by the Employability Fund. 83. Decisions on what to offer are informed through collaboration with CPPs and Local Employability Partnerships. To support Stage 3 of the Strategic Skills Pipeline, plans for include Get Started In programmes in Carpentry and Joinery, Customer Service, Hair and Beauty, Health and Social Care, Hospitality, Motor Vehicle, and Sport and Fitness. Provision to support Stage 4 of the pipeline includes Aircraft Essentials (delivered very successfully with Ryanair in ) and Step into Enterprise. Table 4 Employability Fund starts (1) (2) East Ayrshire North Ayrshire South Ayrshire Total ) Likely to be achieved 2) Places agreed by Skills Development Scotland 84. High quality work experience is an important element of employability provision and the College will work to persuade more employers to offer work placements to young people. We will work with CPPs, JobCentre Plus and other partners to raise awareness amongst employers of financial support that is available, such as wage subsidies, to offer more sustained opportunities for young people.