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This page includes the following case studies:

A progression accord between local HEIs, schools and colleges

A progression agreement supported by employers

A school-college partnership to increase post-16 participation

Progression support for students with special needs, organised by a careers service

Three brief case studies of progression to employment.

A progression accord between local HEIs, schools and colleges

The liaison and progression accord involves almost 40 pre-HE institutions and three HEIs. It aims to improve links between the participating institutions and to provide school and college students with advice about higher education. The three HEIs represent different aspects of higher education and have different specialisms. As part of the accord, the HEIs make guarantees about offers or interviews for applicants from the pre-HE institutions.

The accord is presented to students in a booklet describing all three HEIs, enabling each to detail what it sees as the strengths of its provision. Each HEI also provides the schools and colleges with information about subject entry requirements and a list of those subjects for which applicants meeting the criteria in the accord are guaranteed an interview only. These include, for example, those professions (teaching, medicine) for which an interview is statutory, those courses where there is intense competition for a place, and courses where additional selection criteria are used.

The HEIs make guaranteed conditional offers at standard rates and with standard entry requirements to applicants from institutions that are part of the accord, and who have complied with its provisions. Schools and colleges are supplied with relevant information to guide students in applying. This agreement particularly supports the progression of students who might not otherwise have considered higher education. HEIs have indicated that students from institutions forming part of the accord who narrowly miss the full entry criteria will also receive close consideration.

Named contacts in each institution liaise on a range of issues, including the support required by individual students with special needs.

Benefits of the accord include:

• availability of responsive contacts to talk to students about life in higher education and the nature and demands of courses at higher education level
• opportunities for students to visit university departments
• student work experience placements within the HEIs
• deployment of student mentors in schools and colleges
• postgraduate students talking to pre-HE students about their research
• email contact between students and HE representatives
• residential experience in an HEI, with opportunities to meet admissions tutors and experience taster courses and university life.

Schools, colleges and HEIs benefit from opportunities to discuss aspects of curriculum and progression. For example, there has been extensive discussion on local implementation of the level 3 qualification and curriculum changes from September 2000, and the implications for HE offers.

The accord group has successfully bid for funding to increase HE participation from schools and backgrounds with little tradition of HE (targeted at year 10 pupils). It has also obtained funding to develop a level 3 course to bring 19-21-year-olds back into education and allow them to progress to HE in one year.

A progression agreement supported by employers

A careers service has developed a compact involving the LEA, schools, colleges, HEIs, the local Chamber of Commerce, the TEC, training providers and employers. It aims to maximise the potential of young people, to develop their skills, knowledge and competence as preparation for life and work, and to improve their opportunities at 16 or 18.

Students sign an agreement to work towards a series of goals that differ pre- and post-16. The post-16 goals relate to qualifications, action planning, a work- or community-based project, career planning, self-organisation and recording achievement and progression. Teachers work with students to identify appropriate targets and progress is monitored each half term. Achievement of the goals and targets is recognised by a certificate issued on behalf of the compact.

Students who meet their goals gain 'priority access' to interview by employers who support the scheme. Employers also support work-related activities.

Students and staff have contact with admission tutors and university students. They visit schools and colleges, invite students to visit the HEI and give advice about application to HE and information about student life and experience. Graduates of the scheme may be accepted to study at local HEIs with a slightly reduced points score.

A school-college partnership to increase post-16 participation

In partnership with the local FE college, a small 11-16 school set out to improve post-16 participation by providing new opportunities and aspirations for students and by creating effective transition arrangements to the college. The post-16 participation rate has improved from 28 per cent to 78 per cent in three years.

Progression opportunities and experiences are provided by approaches including those below:

• college students work within the school to raise the aspirations of school students and give them experience of working with older students who may become role models. They organise joint drama productions and assist with reading and business studies assignments. The college course in horticulture uses the school as a base.
• in year 9 students experience a day in the college's art department as the culmination of a 3-D project
• in Year 10 each school student spends three half-days using the college's ICT facilities, receiving training in use of the internet and a 'licence' to use the facilities. Documentation and systems are harmonised. All students study the key skills IT unit at school, aiming for level 2, and can either complete it or progress to the next level when they transfer to the college
• a jointly staffed course leading to GNVQ construction and the built environment is offered to students from both institutions
• a joint Junior Sports Leaders Award is organised for students from years 10, 11 and 12
• at the end of year 10 there is a jointly staffed English summer school to 'catch up on coursework'; this is estimated to result in a one-grade improvement for those students who maintain the standard they achieve during that week
• during year 11 school students have the opportunity to participate in a range of taster courses at the college
• during the second term of year 11, students expected to attain GCSE grades D and above are individually invited to take part in an after-school study programme in the core subjects, run at the college by A level teachers
• students doing fewer GCSE subjects than their peers enhance those subjects by participating in related college courses
• a Careers Theme Week involving employers is organised on the two sites for year 11 students
• at the end of year 11, students who achieve the targets set by school and college staff receive a Certificate of Merit.

Students know that if their school attendance is above average and they have made a genuine effort to meet their targets, they are guaranteed entrance to a college course at the appropriate level. Year 11 attendance has improved in consequence. To support the concept of 14-19 education and the transition process, college staff take part in target-setting interviews during key stage 4 and a member of the school staff works in the college for one session per week, tracking progress and attendance and providing support to students.

Progression support for students with special needs, organised by a careers service

A careers service has developed a student-centred approach that aims to support progression for students with special needs. With the support of a facilitator, they work in groups (transition teams) to investigate careers in sectors of their choice. They make telephone contact with employers and/or colleges, plan and carry out visits and interviews and record the experience and information gained. The focus is on what the work involves and the skills needed to carry it out. Work experience may be planned as part of the project. The culmination is a Celebration Day, involving several schools. Students display and present their work, including the skills they have developed.

One of the schools has initiated a programme that supports progression in work-related learning:

• schemes of work in each subject of the key stage 4 curriculum are planned to emphasise the career opportunities to which study of the subject can lead and its relevance to the world of work
• key skills to enhance young people's employability are developed across the curriculum
• in year 10 each pupil spends one day with each of four training providers, with a specific focus on the skills required for work in that occupational area, and also on working with others and improving own learning and performance
• in year 11 pupils have ten days' work experience, one day per fortnight, prepared for as part of the careers programme and supported by a work experience logbook providing evidence for key skill development.

When young people have chosen a work-based progression route, training providers can include general and vocational qualifications in their programmes.

Brief case studies of progression to employment

1. An area with a labour market in engineering has developed a project to encourage progression into a career in engineering. When choosing their year 9 options, pupils with a strong interest in a career in engineering are identified. During key stage 4 these pupils:
   • have a mentor who is an engineer
   • visit engineering firms to find out about the sector and jobs within it
   • have access to a Young Engineers' club at the local college
   • participate in a number of events/presentations by engineers and engineering companies
   • have work experience placements with engineering-related employers in years 10 and 11
   • attend summer schools at the end of years 10 and 11, intended to foster their interest and enable them to progress to the next stage.
   They can then join a company under the modern apprenticeship scheme, or progress to the FE college to study a course in engineering.
2. To enable young people to build on their pre-16 learning and develop a commitment to lifelong learning, a training provider offers trainees the opportunity to take AS subjects alongside their work-based vocational courses. Trainees are given detailed information about the content and demand of the specifications, and subjects are selected to complement the vocational area. For example, trainees in dental nursing have requested GCSE in human physiology and health, with a view to progressing to AS human biology. Others have requested GCSE English and mathematics courses. FE college tutors teach the courses on the training provider's premises.
   
   Liaison with employers can support progression to employment generally or progression to a specific career, as in the following examples.
3. A student apprentice scheme aims to provide students in full time post-16 education with relevant work-based skills that enhance their level 3 (A level or GNVQ) studies. Typically, they spend four days at school and one in-company, working towards work-related skills, an NVQ and/or key skills. When they complete their full-time education, they can join the company on a modern apprenticeship.

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> Pace and progression

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Page updated: 12 June 2008
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