Scottish Government

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

Background to the study

1.1 The Careers Scotland Enhanced Resource Pilot ( ERP) is an offering of enhanced Careers Scotland support aimed at reducing the numbers of young people who do not enter education, employment or training on leaving school. The previously named Scottish Executive (from now on referred to as the Scottish Government) provided funding for this provision to be made available to 13 selected schools in 7 local authority areas over a 2 year period ¹.

1.2 The 7 pilot areas correspond to the target authorities identified by the Scottish Government in the 2006 strategy, More Choices, More Chances: A Strategy to Reduce the Proportion of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training in Scotland. A breakdown of geographical distribution of Scottish Government funded pilot schools is set out in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 - Geographical distribution

1.3 The 13 funded schools were selected on the basis of their school leaver destination records. Participating schools come from a mix of those with high to medium rates of negative destinations.

The ERP Pilot

1.4 From August 2006 to June 2008, ERP provided participating schools with additional school based careers staff along with other resources designed to more effectively integrate careers education and support with the wider school and community environment.

1.5 Through the pilot, pupils who were identified as being at risk of not making a successful post-school transition were provided with a more intensive form of careers guidance than is available through mainstream services. Recognising that these 'at risk' pupils can have a number of barriers to progressing into employment, education or training, dedicated ERP Careers Advisers were recruited to work with an appropriate caseload in each school in an intensive and flexible way, providing support tailored to the individual pupil.

1.6 Each school was assigned an ERP Careers Adviser for 2.5 days per week. ERP Advisers worked with pupils to help them identify potential career aspirations and routes into their chosen career; support them with the practicalities of applying for further or higher education, training or employment; and where necessary, support them or refer them to relevant agencies to help them overcome barriers to making a successful transition.

1.7 Through this enhanced careers provision it was anticipated that the pilot would contribute to improved outcomes for the young people across a number of measures, including:

• Post-school destination
• Attendance
• Behaviours
• Attainment
• Measures of core and soft skills.

Evaluation aims

1.8 The Scottish Government commissioned GEN to conduct a 2 year evaluation throughout the duration of the pilot. Its aim was to determine which elements or models best promote the overall aim of improving post-school destinations among those identified as being at risk of moving into a negative post-school destination.

1.9 The ERP pilot ended in June 2008; however, given that the evaluation took place throughout the duration of the pilot the report describes its activity in the present tense.

1.10 Specific objectives of the evaluation were to:

• Assess to what extent the pilots have contributed to an improvement in both post-school and in-school outcomes for those targeted by the intervention.
• Describe the different models of implementation and provide evidence on which models or specific elements of the pilots best promote positive outcomes.
• Assess the effectiveness of methods of identification and targeting used by the pilots and their success in engaging with the client group, parents/carers and other relevant stakeholders, and the effectiveness of particular approaches or products within this.
• Assess the extent to and effectiveness with which the pilots achieve or contribute to an integrated, collaborative approach to improving outcomes for individual young people (i.e. wider than careers education).
• Evaluate the extent to which the pilots have been successful in achieving a partnership approach to careers education within schools and the wider community, including the wider education and business community.
• Explore issues of sustainability with a view to recommendations on future roll out, focussing on the issue of deadweight.

Pilot context

1.11 By targeting provision at young people in need of more choices and more chances with the aim of reducing the numbers who become unemployed upon leaving school, the pilot was set up to contribute to a number of key policy objectives. Since the pilot's inception in 2006 the political landscape has changed and the policy context has evolved as a result. Following the election of the SNP government in 2007 a number of new strategies have been introduced.

1.12 The strategy that underpinned the pilot's development was More Choices, More Chances. A Strategy to Reduce the Proportion of Young People Not in Employment, Education or Training ( NEET), it prioritises education and training outcomes and recognises the importance of supported transitions and sustained opportunities for young people, particularly amongst those groups dealing with complex personal problems.

1.13 More Choices, More Chances remains central to the current government's agenda and is, for example, a priority area within Skills for Scotland: A Lifelong Skills Strategy (2007). A central theme of the new strategy is promoting equal access to, and participation in, skills and learning for all. It aims to "recognise people's different needs, situations and goals and remove the barriers that limit what people can do and can be".

1.14 The Curriculum for Excellence is the Government's approach to learning in Scotland. It aims to transform education in Scotland by providing a coherent and more flexible curriculum for every young person from 3-18, including those learning in settings out with school. Curriculum for Excellence includes a commitment to enable young people to develop skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work and should provide opportunities for all learners including those requiring more choices and more chances. It also includes an entitlement for all young people to receive support in moving into a positive and sustained destination.

1.15 A National Performance Framework was devised as part of the Scottish Budget Spending Review in 2007. Five strategic objectives support the delivery of the strategy's purpose, which is: "To focus government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing economic sustainable growth".

1.16 These objectives are supported by 15 national outcomes, which will be measured through 45 national indicators and targets, including "increase the proportion of school leavers (from Scottish publicly funded schools) in positive and sustained destinations ( FE, HE, employment or training)".

1.17 It is clear that ERP has been delivered during a period of wide ranging and significant change. However, the pilot's objectives remain very much in line with the current context which means that the findings from the evaluation continue to be highly relevant in terms of the Scottish Government's commitment to improving outcomes for young people in Scotland.

1.18 To meet the aims and objectives of the range of strategies, some of the areas in the pilot and the individual schools within them have a variety of programmes and initiatives with similar objectives to ERP and with similar client groups. This can make it difficult to disaggregate which impacts are due to ERP and which are as a result of other interventions.

1.19 It is also important to remember that ERP is not operating in a vacuum and wider economic conditions and local area infrastructure have a bearing on the destinations of the beneficiaries of ERP.

1.20 In the current economic climate, with unemployment rates rising, interventions such as ERP may be successful in improving the employability of young people; yet a contracted labour market may mean that these gains are not readily translated into employment opportunities.

1.21 Even during more stable economic environments, there can be barriers that will impact on school leaver destinations. The barriers can be tangible, for example, lack of local employment opportunities or poor transport links. They can also be intangible, for example, attitudes towards travelling outside of the immediate locality for work, perceptions of the jobs that might be available, and peer pressure. These barriers exist to varying degrees in some of the ERP pilot areas. We need to be aware of understanding this local context.

1.22 In conclusion, the potential impact of ERP is constrained to some extent by the local infrastructure and wider economic conditions. Its impacts are also difficult to disaggregate from those of other interventions aimed at the target group.

1.23 All of these factors mean that ERP has been operating in a dynamic landscape with a number of influences. The consultants have had to take cognisance of this in determining the causal link between ERP and the outcomes identified in the evaluation.

Report structure

1.24 This report presents the findings of the evaluation and is structured as follows:

• Chapter 2 describes the evaluation methodology
• Chapter 3 explores and assesses the various models of delivery
• Chapter 4 examines the impact of the pilot on beneficiaries
• Chapter 5 examines the impact of the pilot on school leaver destinations
• Chapter 6 draws conclusions and identifies effective practice.