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Chapter Sixteen Discussion, issues and recommendations

16.1 For a number of years school pupils' part-time employment has received only limited attention from researchers and policy makers. This research has been novel in that it is the first study of its kind in Scotland to be based upon a representative sample and as such provides us with the opportunity to test the generalisability of previous research findings. However, it could be argued that the focus of the research is equally novel. Traditionally research on the links between part-time employment and education has focused on the impact of such work on academic attainment; such an approach emphasises the potential disadvantages of young people's employment experiences.

16.2 There is a growing acceptance that there is a need to recognise that part-time employment experiences may have advantages for young people. This research reflects this particular approach by investigating the potential for positive links between education and pupils' part-time work.

16.3 As we outlined in the introduction to this report, the Determined to Succeed recommendations identified two broad aims for this research: firstly, to provide a picture of the nature and extent of part-time employment in Scotland; and secondly, to consider the opportunities for recognising appropriate part-time employment in pupils' schooling. In this part of the report we consider each of these broad aims in turn based upon the outcomes of the research. Following discussion of the recognition of part-time work, we summarise our recommendations in the final section of this chapter.

Section A School pupils' part-time employment

16.4 A central aim of this research was to provide information on the nature and extent of part-time employment amongst school pupils. This is the first study of its kind in the UK which looks in detail at part-time employment based upon a representative sample of the population (see chapter 1, para 1.14-1.15).

16.5 When discussing the idea of young people's part-time employment it is evident that a number of common assumptions are made. These assumptions include the belief that this is a minority experience and that it is more common in urban than rural settings; that young people work in a limited range of jobs; that the jobs are of little consequence and are 'pocket money jobs'; that specific groups of pupils are more likely to work eg the disaffected school pupil; that there are effective controls in place to protect young employees; and that attendance at school suffers as a result of employment. As we have seen the evidence from this study challenges many of these common sense assumptions.

The nature and extent of part-time employment in Scotland

16.6 The findings from this research showed that combining part-time employment with full-time education was the majority experience amongst school pupils. The data shows that from S3 to S6 increasing percentages of pupils have experience of part-time employment. By the end of S4 (the end of compulsory education for most) the majority of pupils will have had a job of some kind.

16.7 This picture is remarkably stable across Scotland. Taking the figures for current and former workers together, only 5 of the 32 local authority areas had a combined figure (of pupils who had ever worked) of less than 50%: and in these 5 areas the combined figure was in the high 40% range. Part-time employment amongst school pupils was widespread, but there were regional variations. However, the nature of these variations may contradict commonly held assumptions, for example, pupils in rural areas were more likely to work compared with those in urban areas, a difference not explained by seasonal employment.

16.8 There was some variation between and within local authority areas. One possible explanation is that such variations reflect the local economy and we found some evidence to support this position. Variation in levels of part-time employment was also found between schools within the same local authority. Therefore, if pupils' part-time employment is linked to local economic variations, the level of analysis may need to shift down to micro-economies within any specific region; and this also suggests that the pupils' labour market is influenced by the same factors as the adult employment labour market.

What type of jobs are they doing?

16.9 Traditionally, school pupils' employment has been under-valued by assumptions that the types of jobs pupils do are 'children's jobs' or 'pocket money jobs'. It is evident from the findings in this study that pupils work in a wide range of jobs and work in many sectors associated with adult part-time employment.

16.10 The traditional stereotype of school pupils' employment is delivery work. Our evidence found that a minority of working pupils were doing this type of work. Retail and catering sectors were clearly significant employers of school pupils. It was evident that the type of job that pupils did was dependent on their school stage and gender and that it changed across school stages from S3 to S6. This suggests that there is some progression in the type of jobs that pupils take on as they enter the later years of schooling. Previous research has shown that pupils aspire to certain forms of work, such as shop work, and some have speculated that there is a 'career path', with delivery work and babysitting acting as the first step on the path to the more 'valued' jobs. However, it is also clear that the type of job that a pupil may do is partly dependent on where they live and on their gender.

16.11 Turning our attention to the rewards received for working there was evidence that with respect to Minimum Wage criteria many of the pupils were relatively well rewarded. If we look at the rewards they received then the majority were being paid above the Minimum Wage for 16-17 year olds. However, the average figures disguise the fact that a significant percentage of all current workers (22%) had an hourly rate below this level. We should also remember that Minimum Wage legislation does not apply to the large number of S3 and S4 pupils who work, since they are under 16 years of age.

16.12 School stage becomes important when we look at other aspects of employment conditions. While the majority of employees did not receive holiday or sick pay, those in stages S5 and S6 were more likely to receive this than younger pupils. This is likely to reflect the change in status that comes from having a National Insurance number which may put pupils on a more equal footing with other adults working part-time. It might also be that the type of employers that S5 and S6 pupils worked for were relying upon a range of part-time employees, and that these employers applied comparable conditions to all employees, irrespective of their age or situation.

When, and for how long, do pupils work?

16.13 For many, a key concern is that part-time work might compete with school for a pupil's limited time. This in turn is linked to concerns about the effect of work on attainment. In this study we find that the majority of pupils were working for less then ten hours per week. There is some variation in the average hours worked across the school stages, with S6 working an average of 12.47 hours compared to the 7.32 hours of S3.

16.14 There are two points to note about working hours. First, previous studies have shown that working a high number of hours is associated with poorer academic outcomes. The critical watershed of number of hours varies for school stage. In this study we found that the majority of pupils were working within these parameters and as such might be maintaining a balance between part-time work, school and other aspects of their lives. Second, we should not be complacent about this issue since a significant minority of pupils are working 'excessive' hours. ¹⁷ One approach would be to ensure that pupils are provided with information making them aware of the potential trade-off between work and attainment, allowing them to make informed choices.

16.15 Our results do throw some light on the factors that are associated with working longer hours. In our analysis, working in certain types of jobs will result in a higher number of hours being committed to employment. A number of other factors were found to predict longer working hours including school stage, ethnicity, domestic arrangements and post-school plans. An awareness of these factors would allow information on recommended working hours to be targeted at appropriate pupils who might be considered at risk of working excessive hours.

16.16 For some the issue is not only how long pupils work for but also when they work. In this study we have shown that those who work only at the weekends are in the minority. The majority either work during the school week or combine weekend and weekday employment. We attempted to collect fuller information on the days and times that pupils worked; however, this proved too complex a set of data to collect by questionnaire. This suggests that other methodologies are needed if we are to gain a more complete picture of when pupils work.

16.17 One particular concern is that school pupils are viewed as 'flexible' employees, and employers may have expectations that pupils will change their working hours to reflect the employer's needs. This was clearly of concern to some teaching staff. The extent to which pupils are 'pressurised' to work extra hours on demand is an issue that needs further exploration. This may be related to the issue of working conditions, job security and contractual relations, an area largely unexplored with respect to school pupils' part-time employment.

The 'protection' of young employees

16.18 Existing legislation sets out the parameters under which pupils within the period of compulsory education may, or may not, work. The findings from this study show that it is common for this group of pupils to hold down part-time jobs. However, it is also apparent that the existing legislation is ineffective.

16.19 One indicator of this is the number of pupils under 16 who have work permits. The permit system is a key element in the monitoring of younger pupils' exposure to employment. In this study approximately one in ten of pupils under 16 with part-time jobs had a work permit. This is not a unique finding to Scotland since a number of previous studies have raised concerns about the effectiveness of this legislation across the UK.

16.20 Previous research offers a number of explanations for the failure of this legislation. These range from concerns over the lack of awareness amongst all stakeholders of the existence of this legislation, to explanations concerned with the lack of resources focused on this issue, through to concerns about the relevance and aims of this legislation. Moves to increase compliance to the existing legislation would need to be handled sensitively. In some cases it may result in young people losing their jobs since they cannot be brought into line with the existing legislation. What is clear is that any proposal to recognise pupils' part-time employment in their schooling will raise this issue to a new prominence.

Who works?

16.21 This research has provided the opportunity, through multivariate analysis, to explore the factors that predict which pupils have part-time work. In the early 1990s when researchers were starting to turn their attention to the issue of school pupils' employment it was often suggested that poverty was the main driver. The assumption being made was that low socioeconomic status resulted in pupils having to work to supplement the family income. This research provided us with the opportunity to address this question.

16.22 When we asked pupils what they did with their earnings a small percentage indicated that they were used to contribute to the family income. It is obviously important to recognise the significance of this for individual pupils and their families. But the vast majority of pupils did not fall into this category and this must question the assumed link between pupils' work and 'poverty'. However, it is likely that in virtually every case an employed pupil is making some indirect contribution to the family income, for example by earning their own money pupils become less reliant on parents and may use their earnings to buy goods that they would otherwise have asked their parents to supply.

16.23 However, it is the result of the multivariate analysis which clearly shows that there was only a limited link between socioeconomic status and part-time employment. Taking all other factors into account there was no difference in the likelihood of pupils from working class, intermediate and management and professional backgrounds having a part-time job: there were, however, differences with respect to the small number of pupils for whom socio-economic data was missing or unclassifiable.

16.24 As we noted earlier, some commentators have suggested that pupils who work are more likely to be those who are disaffected with school, that, in effect they disengage from school and turn to employment as an alternative. The findings from this study seriously question this hypothesis. We found little evidence that pupils who were disenchanted with school were more likely to be working.

16.25 We were also able to address the link between truanting and part-time work. For some there were concerns that pupils may be absenting themselves from school in order to meet their part-time work commitments. The evidence from this research does not support this conclusion; pupils do not truant in order to work.

Why work?

16.26 If it is not disaffection with school that leads pupils into work what is the motivation? It will come as no surprise that the main reason given by pupils was that they worked in order to earn money. This in turn allowed them to buy a range of goods and to finance aspects of their social life. We have also suggested that we need to look behind the purely financial motivation. The second most popular reason for having a job was that it provided independence. We would suggest that independence can take a number of forms and that some degree of financial independence is also important. Therefore working to earn money may serve a dual purpose.

16.27 If pupils are highlighting that work provides them with a sense of independence then it raises questions about drawing closer links between their part-time employment and schooling. It could be argued that this perceived advantage of work, one that is acknowledged by a range of stakeholders in this study, could be undermined, or even negated, by any move to incorporate this naturally occurring experience into the education system. We consider this further in the next section of this chapter when we focus on the question whether school pupils' part-time employment should be recognised in their schooling.

16.28 Few pupils indicated that their work was related to any specific career related ideas. Those who identified this as a reason for working usually had plans to enter the labour market earlier than their peers. However, while pupils might not link work directly with career issues this does not mean that they did not perceive some value in their work: for example, a number of pupils believed that their jobs provided them with opportunities to learn.

16.29 Given the nature of the study and its aims, much of the research was focused on those pupils who were working. But as we noted in chapter 1, we have also considered the situation of a group which has received less research attention in the past, that is the pupils who have never worked. The evidence of this research supports the view that this is not a homogeneous group. While deciding not to work was a decision that some pupils deliberately made, for others it was a forced choice. A number of pupils clearly wished to work, having applied for or searched for work, but failed to secure it.

The potential benefits and costs of part-time work

16.30 In reviewing the views of stakeholders about part-time employment it is clear that they all had ideas about the potential benefits and costs. What is notable is the consistency of the issues that each group of stakeholders raised. For example across the groups the benefits of work were linked to skill attainment, social skills, exposure to the 'real' world of work and the development of a range of personal attributes. A common theme that emerged when asked to consider the benefits of work is related to the attainment of confidence, self-esteem, independence and maturity. A second benefit is related to gaining knowledge of the world of work. It was suggested that part-time work could result in an increased understanding of business and the workplace. Like the employers, the Scottish Councils Education Industry Network ( SCEIN) interviewees propose that it exposes pupils to the 'reality' of work. When commenting on this positive aspect of part-time employment some interviewees drew a distinction between this and work experience. In their view the latter was less valuable in showing pupils what work is really like. A consequence of this is that it was thought that part-time work can help pupils develop work discipline. It needs to be remembered that the benefits outlined above are stakeholders' perceptions rather than any measured effect.

16.31 A number of the themes associated with the disadvantages of part-time work revolved around the impact on pupils' time. The dominant belief was that pupils' school work was likely to suffer as a result of the time spent on part-time work. For some, part-time work was seen as limiting pupils' engagement with other activities such as sports, after school programmes and social activities. It is worth noting, however, that the evidence from the research challenges these perceptions. While a minority of pupils were working what might be seen as excessive hours, the majority of pupils were not doing so. The research also indicates that pupils who had part-time jobs were more likely to be also involved in a range of other activities.

The value of work

16.32 We have noted earlier that there has often been a tendency to dismiss pupils' jobs as having little value because they were perceived as low quality. This view was also evident amongst a number of stakeholders within this research. We approached the issue of quality in an innovative way by considering the activities actually carried out by young people in the workplace. It was evident that some pupils received training to carry out a range of activities and might even be involved in some supervisory work. The case study element provided a new insight into pupils' work, and is a ground-breaking element of this research. We are not, however, assuming that all pupils are working in high quality jobs, but that jobs vary in terms of their characteristics and their 'demandingness' and that it is important to acknowledge this variability.

16.33 From the perspective of pupils, many saw work as valuable in that it: provided opportunities to learn (62%); gave them scope to develop their abilities (70%) and was challenging (49%). An important point to note is that what seems boring, repetitive or low skill to an adult may be challenging and interesting to a pupil at a particular stage of development.

Enterprising attitudes and work

16.34 In the current policy context there is a great deal of interest in the potential relationship between part-time employment and enterprising attitudes. Our findings showed that enterprising attitudes were a significant factor in a number of the regression analyses. Based on this we could be drawn to conclude that enterprising attitudes are important in predicting work status, hours worked and job type, and on the surface this position could be justified.

16.35 However, as we have seen the picture is far more complex. We would argue that there is no simple causal link between part-time work and enterprising attitudes. Rather, as we have shown, having a part-time job is another indicator of a pupil's level of active engagement in their environment. As such part-time work should not be given specific prominence. It can be viewed as one of a number of out of school activities that are significant predictors of enterprising attitudes.

16.36 The issue then becomes one of attempting to unravel the causal relationship between these behaviours, including part-time work, and enterprising attitudes. To tackle this question it is clear that longitudinal designs would be required.

Section B Recognising part-time employment in pupils' schooling

16.37 As we noted in the introduction to this chapter, we make recommendations as they arise throughout the discussion, highlighting them in italics, but we also summarise them in the final section of this chapter.

The potential of part-time work to contribute to wider educational outcomes

16.38 Involvement in part-time employment by pupils is not a new phenomenon but interest in how it might be utilised as part of their formal education is more recent. As we noted in chapter 1, this interest reflects the increasing recognition of the wider context and processes through which young people learn, and the need to broaden the scope of learning beyond that traditionally offered in the school curriculum.

16.39 This type of thinking is exemplified in two current strategies, Determined to Succeed (Scottish Executive, 2002a) and A Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Executive, 2004). Determined to Succeed took forward the Education for Work agenda, aiming, among other things, to increase the availability of vocational experiences and promote the development of employability skills, including enterprising attitudes, skills and behaviours. A Curriculum for Excellence aims to re-shape the curriculum in Scotland throughout the pre-school, primary and secondary sectors. It has developed a set of purposes and principles for the curriculum in Scotland which create the opportunity to take account of pupils' part-time employment as part of the curriculum. Firstly, it aims to create a curriculum that delivers literacy, numeracy and other essential skills and knowledge for life and work; that draws on the broader experiences that young people have outside of school; and which also provides more space for work related learning. Secondly, it aims to develop assessment to move the focus away from attainment to achievement and to provide young people with 'a broad and rigorous record - not just of their academic work, but also of their vocational learning and their achievements beyond the traditional school curriculum'. In both these ways, this opens up the question of the recognition of pupils' part-time employment.

16.40 On the basis of the evidence about the extent and nature of part-time employment that we have collected and reported in earlier chapters, we conclude that some part-time employment has the potential, in principle, to contribute to the achievement of some of the wider goals set for Scottish education. For example, we have considered how part-time employment might contribute to achieving the four capacities of learners set out in A Curriculum for Excellence. The evidence from this research suggests that part-time employment can contribute to the development of elements of the first three capacities (to be successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens) and to all of the fourth capacity (to be effective contributors).

16.41 It is important to recognise that not all jobs lend themselves to recognition or to the same approach to recognition. The research has shown that pupils are employed in a range of jobs which vary in the quality of the experience they offer and the demand that they place on employees. The research has also identified a number of factors associated with having a more demanding job, including the importance of stage of schooling in determining the type of job in which pupils work.

16.42 It is clear that, if a policy decision is taken to introduce a system of recognition, multiple models of recognition would need to be developed to accommodate differences across pupils and across and within job types .

16.43 Whether part-time work should be used in a recognised way in schooling is another issue and we now go on to consider this.

What impact would recognition have on the part-time work experience?

16.44 In considering whether part-time work should be used within schooling, it is important to consider the impact that recognition might have on pupils' perceptions of part-time work and on the nature of the part-time employment experience. These would be changed in varying ways and to varying degrees by recognition depending on the approach taken. A positive aspect of recognition is that it would heighten awareness of this aspect of young people's lives and increase the visibility of this group of employees.

16.45 Recognition may have other positive consequences in that it may encourage young people to view their jobs from other perspectives. As we have shown most young people cite money as their prime motivation for having a part-time job. One outcome of recognising part-time employment is that it may encourage young employees to reflect upon other gains that they may make as a result of this experience.

16.46 There is also a need to be aware that recognition may have other consequences. For example more formal models of recognition, involving accreditation, would impact on the dynamic relationship between employer and employee, on the pupil's role as an employee (becoming an 'employee-pupil'), and may result in some loss of control of the experience by pupils, perhaps, for example, in their decisions to stop working or their hours of work. Depending on the approach(es) taken to recognition, it might mean that the employer would have to take on new roles, for example, as an assessor, and it might also impact on the nature of the tasks being done.

16.47 Few stakeholders brought up this issue of the 'educationalising' of part-time work directly although a few teachers and pupils did so. But when we consider other findings from the research, in particular, about pupils' motivations for working and some of the benefits they, their parents and educationalists perceive arising from part-time work, we would have to enter a cautionary note. Given the role of part-time work as a way for pupils to gain independence, develop in confidence and maturity and build their adult identity, the possible negative impact of recognition, especially more formal approaches, on these aspects needs to be seriously considered.

16.48 In deciding whether or not to introduce a system of recognition, policy makers need to weigh up the benefits and losses likely to be entailed. If there is a decision to introduce some form of recognition, the research evidence suggests that any system should be voluntary and should be designed on the basis of preserving pupils' autonomy as independent employees in the workplace.

Approaches to recognition

16.49 If a decision is taken to introduce the concept of recognising pupils' part-time work in some way, it is necessary that the key purposes that recognition is being asked to fulfil are clarified: this will determine the models or approaches that are developed. Recognition could fulfil various purposes, for example, is the key purpose that young people will be able to maximise their work-based learning and be able to reflect on and articulate it? And/or that pupils should be able to gain a credit for it via nationally recognised certification? And/or that employers should have a simple way of knowing whether young people have got the skills they want? And/or that teachers will have a real-life context to relate to their teaching? As part of this research we developed five possible approaches or models of recognition which cover a range of purposes to enable us to explore the idea with stakeholders, namely:

• recognition of part-time work through full embedding in the curriculum
• recognition that part-time work can develop generic transferable skills
• formal recognition via discrete certification of the distinctive outcomes of part-time work
• recognition of the role of part-time work in personal planning
• recognition of the potential of part-time work to contribute to progression

16.50 These five models were developed as working tools to enable us to carry out the research and should not be seen as definitive, exhaustive or mutually exclusive. If it is decided to proceed with recognition, we suggest that decisions about purpose(s) need to be taken at a national level and the development of appropriate approaches taken forward at national level. We believe that a national level strategy is necessary given the resource implications for schools of any of the possible models of recognition and to ensure the currency of the recognition.

16.51 Closely linked to the questions of purpose and possible models/approaches to recognition is the matter of assessment. How pupils' part-time work might be assessed was a key concern of school staff and it raises quite fundamental issues. On the one hand, the nature of the assessment is likely to be critical to the impact of recognition on pupils' autonomy in the workplace, as discussed above. On the other hand, there is the question of control of assessment. If 'out of school' experiences such as part-time work are brought into schooling, does this inevitably mean that some of the assessment (as well as the delivery of some aspects of the curriculum) will be given over to others - possibly to employers and/or pupils? In this context it is worth noting that some employers are recognised by the Scottish Qualifications Authority as 'approved centres' which are able to deliver and assess any of its qualifications; while Personal Learning Planning aims to develop pupils' self assessment skills. The assessment of pupils' part-time work raises issues of both principle and practice.

16.52 A next step, if the principle of recognising pupils' part-time work were to be approved, would be to trial and evaluate different approaches to recognition before any national implementation. This might be linked to the extension of the Curriculum Review to S4-S6 and to ongoing developments in Personal Learning Planning, in Assessment Is for Learning and in Out of School Hours Learning. ¹⁸

What would recognition mean for equity and inclusion?

16.53 We raised the question in chapter 1 whether introducing a system that makes use of part-time employment within educational settings might disadvantage some young people who are unable to find part-time work. The question of inequalities in participation in part-time work and the implications of introducing a system of recognition is not a straightforward one.

16.54 In the research, this question of inclusion and equality emerged as a common concern among educational staff and pupils. But this concern was partly based on misconceptions about the extent of part-time working and about which young people have less access to part-time work, for example, it was commonly thought that pupils in rural areas were less likely to have a job than their peers in urban locations. Nevertheless, while there were certain misconceptions, the research did identify certain groups of pupils who were less likely to have part-time work such as Looked After Children. The research found that employers, however, were generally not concerned about equality in respect of part-time employment opportunities: they were happy to give greater value to applicants who had had a part-time job as it was seen as an appropriate way to discriminate between stronger and weaker candidates.

16.55 This contrast in views between educationalists, pupils and employers points up the difference between part-time work and education. Pupils' part-time work reflects the way the labour market operates - it is competitive and the selection is intended to differentiate between stronger and weaker candidates. In contrast, education (at least at policy level) seeks to act in a compensatory manner to improve the opportunities of the weaker. Education is generally in control of the curriculum but in the case of part-time work, access to it and the nature of it is not within their mandate but left to market forces.

16.56 Several questions flow from this: firstly does it mean that recognition should not be introduced since some pupils would be excluded - but it could be argued that pupils do not have unlimited access to the curriculum as it stands, including to vocational opportunities. Secondly, if a system of recognition were to be introduced, should education intervene to safeguard the position of those who do not have access to part-time employment? It is conceivable, for example, that as part of partnership agreements between schools and local employers some part-time jobs might be reserved for those pupils who are unable otherwise to find work. In deciding on this, it has to be recognised that an attempt to influence the free market in part-time employment and to shift it towards a more socially inclusive focus where account is taken of social and other inclusion priorities would make it a very different entity. Another strategy would be for schools to give priority in the allocation of the vocational opportunities within the schools' control to those pupils unable to find part-time jobs. A third strategy would be to ensure that any approach to recognition of part-time work was also able to recognise the other forms of experience, for example voluntary work or work experience.

16.57 It can be seen from this discussion of the research evidence that the question of equity needs to be taken into account in deciding whether or not to recognise pupils' part-time employment, or how this might be done. If recognition is to be introduced, it would be helpful if clear guidance is given on whether education should play a compensatory role in respect of pupils who are disadvantaged in accessing part-time work and on the appropriate strategies that could be adopted.

Stakeholder' views on recognition

16.58 In the research we explored the principle of using and recognising pupils' part-time work with a range of stakeholders. It was clear when we did so that the idea was a novel one for the large majority of them. This is a pertinent point to bear in mind when thinking about their responses. It should also be remembered that stakeholders were responding on the basis of their perceptions of the extent of part-time employment among pupils, of the quality of that employment and the level of skill it involved. These perceptions, especially among school staff, were frequently not well founded in fact.

16.59 While the principle of making more use of pupils' part-time employment was generally viewed positively, responses were nuanced, varied across and within the different stakeholder groups and a number of caveats were added to qualify their approval.

16.60 Pupils were the most evenly balanced of all the stakeholders between being positive and negative about greater use of their part-time employment. It is also important to note that their responses varied by their school stage and whether they had, or had not, had a part-time job. A high percentage of parents thought that pupils' part-time work had educational value and should be used in schooling but were less sure about whether it should be certificated. In the case of employers, the great majority of them were positive about both recognition and the availability of certification for pupils' part-time jobs. School and educational staff were mostly positive about recognising pupils' part-time work in some way in their schooling, but with a much more mixed response than the parents and employers.

16.61 As we have said, stakeholders did not give a blanket endorsement to the idea of recognition but expressed a number of caveats and qualifications. A number of key issues emerged for stakeholders. One was that any system of recognition should be voluntary. There were two aspects to this. Firstly, that pupils who have a job should be able to choose whether or not to link it into their schooling. Secondly, pupils should not be under pressure to get a job if they did not want to, or to keep a job which they wished to give up, perhaps because it was unsatisfactory or as a way of managing time demands at different points in their school career and life. There was also a strong feeling that there needed to be a range of approaches to recognition to provide the flexibility to respond to different pupils in different situations. There was concern for the position of those who might not be able to find a job and the view that this needed to be taken into account in decisions about recognition. Educationalists raised the issue of the targeting of the recognition of part-time employment on those who they felt would most benefit from it, for example, those with limited vocational experiences or those with additional support needs or those likely to enter the full-time labour market straight from school.

16.62 Stakeholders felt that the purposes of recognition would need to be clearly defined and that recognition should only happen if both pupils and employers value the result. The latter point was related to concern, especially among school staff, about the resources that recognition might involve. Finally, in considering the principle of recognition, school and local authority staff pointed to the need to deal with the implications for health and safety and for the legislative system governing child employment.

16.63 The views of the various stakeholders on the different possible approaches to recognition are extremely varied. No one of the five models used in the research commanded general support across the range of stakeholders. Their views are reported in earlier chapters and we do not repeat them here. We would make two more general points. Focusing on the key differences between the approaches it is evident that pupils, school and local authority staff and parents had different views on the recognition of part-time work via formal discrete certification. Similarly, the different stakeholders differed on the merits of a more integrated approach to recognition and to a less formal approach that focuses on its use in teaching and assessment.

16.64 The variation in stakeholders' views and the extent of reservations they expressed reinforces the need for any system of recognition to be voluntary and to offer multiple models or approaches to recognition. They also underline the need for the full trialling and evaluation of different models.

A need to raise awareness and address perceptions

16.65 If there was to be a decision that part-time work should be formally recognised in schooling, school staff are likely to be central to the delivery of the initiative. The research found that, although on the whole they were positive about the general principle of recognition, they had a number of reservations and expressed very mixed views on various aspects of recognition and on the practicalities of implementation. It is important to recognise that some of their reservations were based on misperceptions about the extent of part-time working (usually under-estimating it); about the type and quality of work undertaken and about the impact of part-time working on schooling, in particular on pupils' academic attainment. As we have noted, one of the main reasons school staff were negative about part-time work was its perceived impact on school performance and there was little awareness of the strong body of research evidence on this matter. This body of evidence demonstrates that part-time employment does not necessarily have an adverse effect on attainment and that closer attention has to be paid to the circumstances of individual pupils' part-time work.

16.66 The gap between some common assumptions about pupils' part-time work and the research evidence suggests that school staff need to be better informed about the nature, extent and pattern of part-time working among school pupils in Scotland and in their locality and also to be made aware of the body of research evidence about the varied effect of part-time employment on academic performance. This awareness raising would be a necessary first step to changing attitudes to pupils' part-time employment. Given that part-time work is a common aspect of most pupils' lives, school staff need to be better informed about this aspect of their pupils' lives, whether or not it is decided to introduce a system of recognition. Strategies to encourage more structured consideration of pupils' part-time work in career guidance interventions and in career education need to be considered and developed by Careers Scotland in cooperation with education staff.

Legislation

16.67 As we noted earlier in this chapter, the existing legislation concerning child employment is ineffective. In addition, our review of national and international legislation showed that Scotland is out of step with European legislation. Even without any move to recognise part-time work within pupils' schooling, the current legislative position urgently needs to be addressed. But recognition of part-time work would inevitably focus attention on legislative issues (including health and safety) to an unprecedented extent.

16.68 Two options could be considered by the Scottish Executive:

• to investigate the reasons for the failure of the present system at central and local government levels. Reasons for the failure of the present system could include: lack of resources, lack of awareness amongst stakeholders, lack of prioritisation of the issue or the lack of any effective inspectorate. If the present system can be made more effective there would be a need to harmonise policy across local authorities. The original legislation allowed for local authorities to vary the content of byelaws to reflect regional variations but there are doubts whether such variations are still relevant.
• To re-evaluate and review the aims and purpose of the existing legislation in this area. There is a substantial body of evidence that the present legislation is ineffective and confusing. A full review would provide the opportunity to make this legislation appropriate to the 21 ^st century.'

16.69 We have pointed out that the National Minimum Wage guidance does not currently apply to those under 16. But many pre-16 year olds carry out the same jobs, and may work alongside older peers but without the benefit of minimum wage cover.

16.70 Consideration should be given to an extension of this legislation to cover this group. This is not a devolved power to the Scottish Executive and so this would have to be taken forward at a UK level.

Links between part-time work and vocational opportunities in schooling

16.71 Considering the type of part-time work that pupils commonly engage in, it is difficult to envisage a direct vocational link with the work-related and vocational opportunities in school. The largest percentage of part-time work opportunities lie in retail and hospitality, while in work experience care and sport/recreation are very common opportunities. The industry sectors chosen for vocational pathways and Skills for Work courses have more in common with work experience than with part-time employment. Therefore, it will be a minority of school pupils who might be able to link part-time work to a vocational certificate through industry-specific skills (eg hairdressing part-time job to hairdressing vocational pathway). Rather, the research suggests that the most likely link from part-time work into these other experiences might be through generic transferable employability skills.

16.72 Another factor is that these experiences also cover different pupil groups. Part-time work is done by pupils of all academic levels and all intended post-school routes. Vocational pathways and Skills for Work are more likely to be undertaken by those aiming for the labour market or FE after school. Work experience is likely to be undertaken across the ability range also but generally takes place in S3/4 whereas part-time work is most common in the upper school. This again makes a direct link more difficult.

16.73 But at least there should be an understanding by schools that pre-entry briefings to school-led vocational experiences should take account of the possibility that this is not the first vocational experience pupils have had; a substantial proportion will have had experience of part-time work.

16.74 The majority of pupils have both work experience and part-time employment, and this can be seen as providing complementary or progressive vocational experiences. Stakeholders perceived work experience and part-time employment as serving different purposes and it is also evident that the type of job sectors and employers providing part-time work differed from those offering work experience. These findings are relevant to the issue of using part-time work to enhance or replace work experience. However, there was also a significant minority of pupils who had neither part-time employment nor work experience, and the vocational needs of this group require to be examined and addressed if necessary through the provision of vocational experiences within the curriculum.

16.75 Skills for Work courses (and the employability skills units developed within them) were not developed at the time of the field work for this research. If a policy decision to link part-time work more clearly into schooling is taken, then the potential for Skills for Work courses to recognise some of the generic skills of part-time employment needs to be examined.

Employers

16.76 This research, taken in conjunction with other evidence, highlights issues concerning employers' role in respect of school pupils' preparedness for work. When employers are asked what skills they have difficulty finding to fill their skill shortage vacancies, and what skills are lacking amongst their workforce, they cite a range of technical and practical skills in combination with generic skills. In particular, generic skills such as communication, customer handling and team working are areas of growing demand that are perceived as not being met (see for example, Hillage et al. 2002 and Future Skills Scotland, 2002). We have shown that many pupils undertake relevant activities such as dealing directly with customers, working with others to get their job done in their part-time work and that the majority of school pupils are, or have been, employed during their time at school. They are, therefore, already in the 'sphere of influence' of employers. There is an apparent paradox that employers feel that some school leavers do not have the requisite generic skills but their part-time pupil workforce carries out activities that require such skills.

16.77 The Scottish Executive should consult with employer organisations on how to encourage companies to help develop the employability skills of their part-time pupil workforce.

Section C Summary of recommendations

Awareness raising

• Part-time employment is a majority experience among secondary school pupils but the research identified a number of commonly held misperceptions among many school and local authority staff about the extent and nature of school pupils' part-time employment. School staff also tended to perceive part-time work largely in terms of its possible negative effect on pupils' schooling. If schools are to acknowledge the place of part-time work in pupils' lives, action needs to be taken to provide them with accurate information that challenges misperceptions as a first step to changing attitudes to part-time work.
• Pupils also need information about part-time employment to ensure they are aware of their rights and obligations as employees and to enable them to make informed decisions on part-time work and how to balance part-time work, schooling and other aspects of their lives.
• Both the above recommendations need to be tackled at a number of levels, from school to Scottish Executive. They could be undertaken as part of the Determined to Succeed strategy.
• Strategies to encourage more structured consideration of pupils' part-time work in career guidance interventions and in career education need to be considered and developed by Careers Scotland in cooperation with education staff.

Employers

• Employers need to be encouraged to develop good practice in employing school pupils, including the use of contracts to limit the number of hours worked and to recognise the role of study leave and exam preparation.
• Employers' views about the lack of preparedness of school pupils for work, especially in relation to certain generic skills, have been well documented. But the majority of school pupils are employed during their time at school and are therefore, already in the 'sphere of influence' of employers, and most carry out activities in their jobs that require such generic skills. The Scottish Executive should consult with employer organisations on how to encourage companies to help develop the employability skills of their part-time pupil workforce.

Legislation

• Any moves to formally recognise part-time work will bring the current system of monitoring child employment into prominence. The current system is ineffective in both monitoring and controlling the part-time employment of children aged under 16 and there is an urgent need for the Scottish Executive to address this.
• As a minimum, the current child employment legislation needs to be revised to ensure consistency of approach across local authorities. We suggest that a more radical re-evaluation and revision of legislation is required to establish a system that is effective and relevant for the 21st century.
• Good information on legislation targeted at different stakeholders needs to be developed and disseminated widely to ensure that pupils, parents, schools and employers are aware of their rights and responsibilities.
• The guidance on National Minimum Wage does not apply to those under 16. Consideration should be given to extending this legislation to cover this younger group.

Recognition of part-time work

• The extent and nature of pupils' part-time work suggests that it could contribute to some of the wider goals set for Scottish education, for example, by Determined to Succeed and A Curriculum for Excellence. This contrasts with the traditional view of part-time work as having a detrimental effect on pupils' education and attainment.
• Whether it should be used in a recognised way in schooling is another issue. Policy makers need to be aware that any system of recognition will have an impact on the part-time work experience: this impact may be direct or indirect and may be positive or negative in nature. The nature of the impact is likely to vary depending on the approach(es) taken to recognition. Care should be taken to ensure that any recognition system does not erode currently perceived benefits of part-time employment such as enhancing a sense of independence and autonomy. The various consequences of any recognition system need to be fully considered.
• A number of key points about recognition emerged from the research and these must be taken into account by policy makers when deciding whether and how the recognition of part-time work should be taken forward. These are that:
  • the purpose of recognition needs to be defined
  • any system of recognition should be voluntary
  • any system needs to respect the autonomy of the pupil as an independent worker in the workplace
  • any system would have to acknowledge the variability in the type and quality of jobs undertaken
  • there should be multiple models of recognition; no one approach can fit all situations
  • it should only happen if both pupils and employers value the result, especially given the resource implications
  • health and safety issues need to be addressed
  • legislation on the employment of children and young people needs to be clarified and made effective.
• As noted above, an attitudinal change in schools about part-time work is required before any system of recognition could be successfully introduced.
• While there was general support for the idea that pupils' part-time work should be more recognised in schooling, stakeholders did not give it a blanket endorsement. There was also no general agreement about how it might be done. Educationalists tended to favour those approaches that encouraged pupils to review the learning gained from their part-time employment.
• The question of equity concerned some pupils and educationalists since not all pupils who wanted a part-time job could find one. Some groups of young people were less likely to have a part-time job. It could be argued, however, that this is the nature of the labour market. Moreover, pupils do not have unlimited access to the curriculum, including to vocational opportunities.
• This question of equity needs to be taken into account in deciding whether or not to recognise pupils' part-time employment. If recognition is introduced, clear guidance is needed on whether education should play a compensatory role in respect of pupils who are disadvantaged in accessing part-time work and, if so, on the appropriate strategies that could be adopted, for example, for schools to negotiate part-time job vacancies as part of Partnership Agreements with local employers.
• If a policy decision is taken to recognise pupils' part-time employment in their schooling, there needs to be a full feasibility study of the approaches developed as part of this research and also consideration of other approaches.

Part-time work and the vocational curriculum

• Considering the type of part-time work that pupils commonly engage in, it is difficult to envisage a direct vocational link with work-related and vocational opportunities in school. The research suggests that the most likely link from part-time work into these other experiences might be through generic transferable employability skills.
• The extent of part-time employment does raise questions for other forms of vocational experiences, in particular, work experience. Schools cannot assume that work experience is the first introduction to the world of work for all pupils and briefing and debriefing needs to take account of this.
• In the allocation of vocational experiences to pupils, their prior and current experience of part-time work needs to be taken into account to ensure the vocational experiences are complementary and can provide progression in learning.
• The timing of the introduction of Skills for Work courses meant that the research did not take account of this provision. If a policy decision is taken to link part-time work to schooling, then the potential for links with Skills for Work courses, and the employability units developed within them, needs to be examined as part of a feasibility study.
• A fifth of S5 and S6 pupils had had neither work experience nor part-time employment. Consideration needs to be given to targeting those vocational experiences within the gift of the school on those pupils.

Part-time work and enterprise

While this research has shown a relationship between part-time work and the extent to which pupils view themselves as enterprising, it was not designed to assess the impact of part-time employment on their development of enterprising attitudes, skills and knowledge. Further research designed on a longitudinal basis would be necessary for this.

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