Earlier this year the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) called for compulsory work experience to be reintroduced for all children aged 14 to 16.
The Government ended schools’ obligation to provide compulsory work experience in 2012.
Since then, although many schools do still try to arrange some work experience, the responsibility for finding placements has rested largely on parents and pupils themselves. In fact, according to the organisation Changing Education “Ofsted has identified that 75% of schools are failing to provide adequate work experience programmes”.
In 2015 the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) questioned the wisdom of the 2012 decision, following a study of members that found that “most firms and education leaders believe secondary schools should offer work experience for under 16-year-olds”.
John Longworth, who was then the director general of the BCC, said: “Business and school leaders are clear – we won’t bridge the gap between the world of education and the world of work unless young people spend time in workplaces while still at school.
He may have been correct but the same BCC survey of 3,500 respondents found that just over a third did not offer any work experience.
In March 2017 the Government published its own research into the current state of work experience and among its findings were that “schools took a largely student-led approach, which placed responsibility on young people and their parents/ carers on finding a placement” with many relying on individual staff systems and contacts.
We are wearyingly familiar with the complaints from businesses about the lack of readiness for work among new recruits in their first jobs. They regularly cite specific concerns relating to the punctuality and attitude of such individuals.
In other research carried out in 2016 by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) a quarter (27%) of employer respondents viewed involvement with schools and colleges as too onerous.
This may be why has not been easy for schools to find enough local employers willing to offer pupils work experience despite various initiatives tried over the years such as the now-defunct local county Exchanges which as NGOs sought to act as an interface between the two by taking care of the perceived bureaucracy involved.
Indeed, the Government’s Apprenticeship scheme launched in 2017 has hardly been a resounding success.
This is the background to the present situation we find ourselves in with employment levels higher than they have ever been and fewer Europeans willing to come to the UK for work as a result of the uncertainty over their status post Brexit, businesses are finding it even harder to recruit suitable employees let alone fill low-skilled jobs.
It seems young people are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to gaining work experience with schools overburdened by cash shortages, the demands of the National Curriculum and the demise of careers guidance while at the same time employers bemoan the lack of preparedness of new recruits while also seemingly unwilling to offer much practical help to improve the situation.
What is the answer?