£101,000 awarded in Skills for Education grants to schools

34 secondary-age schools received Skills for Employment grants worth up to £3,000 in June 2017. Match-funded by schools, the grants are being used on a range of approved careers and employability projects, ranging from provision of one-to-one careers interviews for young people, to funding a school’s preparation to achieve a national Careers Quality Award. This is the fourth round of such grants awarded since 2015.  The total value of this type of grant awarded to schools is more than £400,000. It is estimated that around 20,000 students have received careers or employability support funded by the grants. Here’s a summary of one school’s evaluation report on its 2016/17 grant-funded activity:

30 year 11 students at most risk of becoming not in employment, education or training (NEET) were supported with up to three one-to-one interviews, some of which also involved their parent(s). All went on to choose a positive post-16 destination, while two were offered jobs with apprenticeships by local businesses. 39 vulnerable year 8 students and their parent (s) took part in interviews to help choose their GCSE options. The school is in the final stages of achieving accreditation for the national Careers Quality Award.