SC/16/05 Agenda item 8 4 February 2016 The Development of Work Place Experience Guidelines for Colleges To provide information on the development of work place experience guidance for the college sector and the implications for the development of College Outcome Agreement Guidance for 2017 2020. To highlight the work being led by SFC on the development of work place experience guidelines for Colleges. Update the Committee on progress to date. Provide initial feedback on consultation with employers, staff and students identifying common themes, challenges and good practice. Recommendations Note and discuss the process and progress to date and comment on any gaps in the emerging guidelines. Advise the SFC executive of any perceived gaps in the process and potential stakeholders for wider consultation. Note that a further paper will be brought to the JSC once the consultation is complete and the recommendations developed for the Outcome Agreement Guidance.
SC/16/05 Agenda item 8 4 February 2016 The Development of Work Place Experience Guidelines for Colleges Purpose 1. The paper provides initial feedback on consultation with employers, staff and students identifying common themes, challenges and good practice and seeks the input of the Committee on how the guidelines may be used to improve the guidance for 2017-20 further including improving its measures. 2. This paper also provides the background to the development of work place experience guidelines for the College sector and the implications for the development of outcome agreement guidance. Strategic Plan implications 3. This work complements SFC s strategic aims of High Performing Colleges and Universities; Progression from Learning and Success in learning. Context and Process 4. In June 2014 the Commission for Developing Scotland s Young Workforce published their final report. The report included recommendations for Schools, Colleges, Training Providers and employers to ensure that all young people in Scotland are provided with the opportunities to develop and use the skills and abilities necessary to become an active participant in the labour force and maximise their contribution to economic growth. 5. Key recommendations for the College Sector included: Recommendation 5: The new regional colleges should have a primary focus on employment outcomes and supporting local economic development. This should be underpinned by meaningful and wide ranging partnerships with industry and should be at the forefront of Regional Outcome Agreements and their measurement. And Recommendation 17: Employers and national industry sector groups should form partnerships with regional colleges to ensure course 1
content is industry relevant and full advantage is taken of work based learning and employment opportunities. 6. In September of 2015 Education Scotland published Developing the Young Workforce Work Placements Standard for schools. The standards were coproduced by a wide variety of key groups in response to the recommendation that a modern standard should be established for the acceptable content and quality of work experience. Following this publication Scottish Government engaged SFC in discussions to develop similar guidelines for the College sector. 7. SFC established a working group consisting of representation from Colleges, Skills Development Scotland, Scottish Government, Education Scotland, Scottish Qualifications Authority, College Development Network and Scottish Funding Council. In addition an advisory group consisting of three senior college members of staff were asked to oversee the work of the working group. 8. The working group established definitions of work placement, work experience and workplace experience and agreed a terminology for the guidelines. They also explored what a good workplace experience looks like for the learner, employer and the college. 9. Having developed a baseline of definitions and identified good practice in work place experience it was agreed to test the findings with students, employers and college staff. 10. An online consultation was developed and distributed to over 500 employers including public bodies, SMEs, large companies, NHS Boards, Representative Bodies including the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland, Federation for Industry Sector Skills and Standards, Chambers of Commerce, STUC and the National Farmers Union. 11. Focus groups were set up for students and staff in 5 colleges. The colleges were selected to ensure representation from the widest range of students including remote and rural. All focus groups will be concluded by 2 nd February 2016. In addition an online survey was distributed to student associations via the NUS. The Committee is invited to consider what more SFC could do to gain feedback and identify good practice with employers and colleges. 2
Initial feedback from consultation with students, staff and employers: key issues Feedback to date has established that: colleges, students and employers would welcome a clear set of guidelines to ensure a high quality work place experience which meets the expectations of all parties; the guidelines should be flexible enough to enable effective implementation at all levels of the curriculum, in all curriculum areas and in very different colleges and regions across Scotland; the guidelines will require colleges to work more closely with their local employers in a broad range of industries to establish and support meaningful work placement experiences for student; the work placement experience should involve real and meaningful work; clear roles and responsibilities are specified for all parties; and that appropriate support is in place for employer and students from the colleges. 12. It should however be noted that this emphasis on greater volume of students engaging in work place experience will place additional pressure on employers at a time when schools, colleges and Universities are all competing to engage with industry to increase the work based element of education. Outputs 13. Following the initial consultation phase draft guidelines will be produced by the end of March 2016. The draft guidelines will be distributed to stakeholders for consultation. The Committee s thoughts are welcome on how the working group can engage effectively with a broad range of stakeholders to provide constructive feedback on the guidelines. 14. Following extensive consultation the Guidelines will be published in June 2016 for implementation in AY 2016/17. 15. SFC s current College Outcome Agreement Guidance asks for colleges to measure the number of full time learners with substantial work experience as part of their programme of study. This measure is ambiguous and open to interpretation. Colleges were asked to set themselves stretching targets for expansion of work experience places in 2015-16, detailing the number of places to be offered and the curriculum areas covered. However, even where this information is included and targets are set, it is difficult to get a sense for the nature and quality of the placements. The guidelines will ensure that all work placement experience is defined by a series of guidelines, recommendations and examples of good practice. The final guidelines will be used to define work placement experience for the Outcome Agreement Guidance and enable a more cohesive measurement. The Committee s view is invited on whether the 3
work placement experience measure can be further improved. Equality and diversity assessment 16. An equality and human rights impact assessment is being developed in alignment with the development of the guidelines and is shaping the extent and type of consultation we have undertaken to date. Recommendations The committee is invited to: 17. Note and discuss the process and progress to date and comment on any gaps in the emerging guidelines. 18. Advise the SFC executive of any perceived gaps in the process and potential stakeholders for wider consultation. 19. Consider whether the work placement experience measure can be further improved. 20. Note that a further paper will be brought to the Joint Skills Committee once the consultation is complete and the recommendations developed for the Outcome Agreement Guidance. Publication 21. This paper will be published online in edited format as it includes information which is intended for future publication. Further information 22. Contact: Sharon Drysdale, Assistant Director Skills: tel: 0131 313 6682 e-mail: sdrysdale@sfc.ac.uk 4