This report provides practical insights from Careers Leaders about how to deliver meaningful encounters with further and higher education for young people in secondary schools, colleges and special schools. It is targeted at schools and colleges seeking ideas for how to improve their provision.
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We carried out focus groups with Careers Leaders from 16 schools, colleges and special schools. The focus groups explored approaches to delivering encounters, and strategies to ensure they are meaningful and available to all students. Focus groups and interviews with representatives from the FE and the HE sectors, and with The Careers & Enterprise Company’s Education and Network teams were carried out to obtain additional information about barriers to and enablers of encounters with further and higher education.
Provider access legislation
The provider access legislation is new guidance that comes into force from January 2023, which builds on Benchmark 7 and adds new specific requirements for schools. It is a key mechanism to further help learners understand and take-up, not just apprenticeships, but wider technical education options such as T-Levels and Higher Technical Qualifications.
The updated provider access legislation (PAL) specifies schools must provide at least six encounters for all their students:
- Two encounters for pupils during the ‘first key phase’ (year 8 or 9) that are mandatory for all pupils to attend
- Two encounters for pupils during the ‘second key phase’ (year 10 or 11) that are mandatory for all pupils to attend
- Two encounters for pupils during the ‘third key phase’ (year 12 or 13) that are mandatory for the school to put on but optional for pupils to attend
You will find more information on the legislation and support with promoting all pathways here.