Recommendation 16

HM Government · verbatim extract Accepted

97. The Department is committed to supporting the achievement of better educational outcomes, particularly in those areas with weakest educational attainment. The range of support packages for the 55 Education Investment Areas (EIAs) and 24 Priority Education Investment Areas (PEIAs) is driving school improvement and improved pupil outcomes in primary and secondary schools. Funding for the range of packages–such as increasing trust capacity, Wi-Fi connectivity through Connect the Classroom, Levelling Up Premium and support for family hubs–is agreed separately for each policy area. 98. We agree that it is important to support those schools with weakest educational attainment to provide excellent careers provision. However, EIAs only cover one-third of local authorities in England where educational outcomes are currently weakest and other local authorities containing existing place-based interventions. By supporting the CEC to reach all secondary schools with poor educational outcomes, the Department can target support for disadvantaged groups across the country, in response to evidence that they are less likely to receive careers information, advice and guidance than their peers. 99. As set out in the introduction, through the work of the CEC, disadvantaged areas now rank amongst the highest performing in the country for careers provision, following earlier investment in careers programmes to scale up activities in disadvantaged ‘cold spots’. There is evidence of a link between Gatsby Benchmark achievement and the likelihood of a young person becoming NEET and this is twice as strong in disadvantaged schools. 100. CEC is prioritising targeting interventions for disadvantaged young people on free school meals (FSM) and has key performance indicators which are focussed on faster progress against the Gatsby Benchmarks for educational institutions with high rates of FSM. The CEC is also supporting a pilot on work experience in rural and coastal areas as well as more focussed support for independent training providers (ITPs). Such additional support for ITPs is important given 70% of apprenticeships in England are supported by ITP members of Association of Employment and Learning Providers and the proportion of apprenticeship starters from disadvantaged backgrounds accounted for 22% of all starts (84,000) in 2017/18 . It is therefore the Department’s view that focusing on improving careers provision by supporting disadvantaged pupils across the country is the best way to ensure strong careers provision. 101. The Department is also aware of other pilots targeting those with disadvantage and will consider their scalability upon completion. For example, the CEC is piloting its Effective Transition Fund which will provide insights into the most effective interventions and policy solutions which help disadvantaged young people transition from education into work, training or further education. In addition, the Department is embarking on the second phase of Levelling-up Employment and Skills Pathfinders, a joint initiative between DWP and DfE. These aim to understand access to skills opportunities bringing a greater alignment to the delivery of employment and skills interventions at a local level to ensure more jobseekers access suitable skills training at the right point in their journey, leading to sustained employment and career progression opportunities. The findings and insights from these pilots will inform continuous improvement and innovation to support people into skills training provision or employment.