The Scottish Government

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND

1.1 In the ministerial response to A Curriculum for Excellence, the Scottish Executive ¹ (2004a) made a commitment to deliver a new programme and qualifications in learning about Skills for Work ( SfW) for 14-16 year olds by 2007. It announced that SfW courses were going to be developed by the Scottish Qualifications Authority ( SQA) in conjunction with Learning and Teaching Scotland, the Scottish Further Education Unit ( SFEU), the Scottish Executive and a range of stakeholders through a programme of national consultation seminars.

1.2 The rationale for the SfW courses is that they would be introduced to help young people to develop skills and knowledge in a broad vocational area, core skills ², an understanding of the workplace, positive attitudes to learning, and employability skills ³. Furthermore, "a key feature of these courses is the emphasis on experiential learning. This means learning through practical experience and learning by reflecting on experience" (Scottish Executive (2005b), p.50). The courses are intended to provide progression pathways to employment, training or further learning for pupils of all abilities.

1.3 Significantly, the Scottish Executive positioned SfW in the broader educational policy and lifelong learning agendas. SfW was identified as a contributor to Learning for Life, one of the five National Priorities in Education, which focuses on equipping young people with "the initial skills, attitudes and outlook to prosper in a changing world and to stimulate innovation, entrepreneurship and ambition" (Scottish Executive, 2005b, p.8). The Scottish Executive also stated that SfW would make a major contribution to achieving the aspirations for young people, enunciated in A Curriculum for Excellence, that "they should be successful

learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors to society and at work"' (Scottish Executive (2005c), p.1). Furthermore, it was noted that SfW would help to fulfil the commitment in the Scottish Executive Partnership Agreement, A Partnership for a Better Scotland, "to enable 14-16 year olds to develop vocational skills and improve their employment prospects by allowing them to undertake courses in further education colleges as part of the school-based curriculum" (Scottish Executive, 2005c, p.2).

1.4 This approach is part of the lifelong learning strategy, Life Through Learning; Learning Through Life, which aims to "encourage locally relevant links between schools, FE colleges and local employers to ease school leavers transitions into further learning, training or employment" (Scottish Executive, 2005b, p.5). The Scottish Executive explained that it encouraged school-college partnerships for several reasons, including "to give pupils the opportunity to undertake meaningful courses and experiences in vocational areas" and "to stimulate pupils' creativity and enterprise, including through Enterprise in Education under Determined to Succeed" (Scottish Executive (2005a), p.3). Significantly, the Scottish Executive pointed out that it has no preferred model of delivery for school-college partnerships or for the type of delivery of vocational education.

1.5 It was recognised that collaboration and partnership between schools, colleges and employers would be important for the delivery of SfW courses. Lifelong Partners, A Strategy for Partnership, stated that " SfW courses will provide a greater range of learning opportunities for pupils augmenting existing school/college activities" (Scottish Executive, 2005b, p.17). It also observed that: "It may be possible for some schools to provide such courses, but many will be delivered in partnership with colleges" (Scottish Executive, 2005b, p.17). Interestingly, a review by Wood (2004) reported that there was a general consensus that "colleges provide a stimulating and supportive environment for pupils" (p.7), adding that "the schools that make the best links with colleges are those which realise that not all pupils are suitable for college education" (p 14).

1.6 The new Scottish administration has expressed its commitment to SfW courses. In Skills for Scotland: a Lifelong Skills Strategy, the Scottish Government emphasised the "need to increase opportunities for and the esteem to, vocational learning and training" by building on the 'design of Curriculum for Excellence (...) to help young people develop, and see the relevance of, essential skills and other skills of value in developing the capacities that will underpin their personal, social and economic futures" (Scottish Government, 2007, p.15).

1.7 The SfW pilot was run over two years, involving approximately 40 delivery centres working in partnership with a total of 145 schools in the first year, and 70 delivery centres in partnership with 255 schools in the second year of the pilot. The courses piloted from 2005-2006 onwards were:

• Construction Crafts (Intermediate 1)
• Sport and Recreation (Intermediate 1)
• Early Education and Childcare (Intermediate 1 and 2)
• Financial Services (Intermediate 2).

Additional courses piloted in Year 2 included:

• Practical Experiences: Construction and Engineering (Access 3)
• Hairdressing (Intermediate 1)
• Rural Skills (Intermediate 1)
• Construction Crafts (Intermediate 2)
• Sport and Recreation (Intermediate 2).

Although the main target group for SfW courses were pupils in S3 and S4, it was anticipated that the courses would also be taken by older pupils and adult learners.

1.8 The National Foundation for Educational Research ( NFER) was commissioned by the former Scottish Executive Education Department ( SEED) - now the Scottish Government's Schools Directorate - to carry out an evaluation of the SfW pilot between September 2005 and October 2007. This report presents the main findings of the whole evaluation with a particular focus on the final survey of 20 partnerships carried out between April 2007 and July 2007. Two other reports (initial and interim) were produced during the evaluation - summaries of these are available on the Scottish Government's website. ⁴ In addition, SQA ( SQA, 2006) and HMIe ( HMIE, 2007) carried out their own reviews of the SfW pilot.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE EVALUATION

1.9 The overarching purpose of the research was to undertake a process evaluation of the SfW pilot courses in order to inform the roll-out of these and other courses. The evaluation aimed to identify the critical factors that facilitated or hindered the implementation of the courses, and to draw out learning points for policy-makers and practitioners.

1.10 The main aims of the evaluation were to examine key aspects of SfW course design, including course rationale and purposes, design principles, assessment regimes, timetabling and delivery issues and to obtain the views and experiences of key stakeholders, including pupils and teaching staff involved in the pilots.

1.11 More specifically, the key objectives of the study were:

• To collate and analyse monitoring information relating to pupil characteristics, retention rates and achievement of qualifications.
• To evaluate course content, materials and design in the light of policy intentions and official guidance.
• To collect and explore the views of key stakeholders on the design, implementation, and piloting of the SfW courses.

METHODOLOGY

1.12 The evaluation of the SfW pilot was based around a qualitative methodology in order to get to the heart of the implementation process. It consisted of four distinct, but interrelated, research methods. These were as follows:

• Strategic interviews: face-to-face meetings with eight key stakeholders at the start of the pilot.
• Telephone surveys: telephone surveys of a representative sample of 20 delivery centres at the beginning of the pilot (this survey is referred to in the report as 'the first survey') and towards the end of the pilot (this is referred to as 'the final survey'), as well as a telephone survey of a sample of ten delivery centres who only started delivering SfW courses in the second year of the pilot (referred to as the 'Year 2 Partnership Survey')
• Partnership case-study visits: to six delivery centres and their partners
• Analysis of monitoring data: collected by the SQA from all pilot delivery centres and analysed by the NFER at the end of the pilot

1.13 More details on each of the five research exercises are provided below:

Strategic Interviews

Interviews were carried out with eight key representatives from the SQA, the Scottish Government, HMIe, Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Scottish Further Education Unit ( SFEU). The interviews were conducted between September and November 2005.

Telephone Surveys

The first telephone survey of 20 partnerships was carried out between November 2005 and February 2006. Interviews were conducted by telephone with a senior manager in each delivery centre and up to two partners, across 20 partnerships. Interviewees in colleges tended to be sector managers or schools liaison coordinators, who were responsible for the organisation and operation of the SfW pilot. Respondents from schools tended to be a member of the senior management team such as the depute headteacher or they were Principal Teachers. These individuals usually had responsibility for coordinating the pilot at school level and for liaising with the college or training provider. The sample included: 15 colleges, 29 schools (four of the schools were delivery centres) and one training provider. Interviews were conducted with 50 members of staff from these organisations.

The final telephone survey was carried out between April 2007 and June 2007 and involved re-contacting the same colleges, schools and provider as in the first round.

In addition to the main survey, the NFER also conducted a telephone survey (in June, August and September 2007) of a sample of ten delivery centres who only started delivering SfW courses in the second year of the pilot. The focus of these interviews was on the extent to which these delivery centres had managed to build on the lessons learnt by those centres involved from the start of the pilot. Interviews were conducted with 14 schools, six colleges and two employers (four of the schools acted as delivery centres - two of these were working in partnership with local employers).

Case-Study Visits

Visits were carried out to six purposefully selected partnerships - three towards the end of Year 1 and three just after the beginning of Year 2 of the pilot. Partnerships were chosen in consultation with the Research Advisory Group with the aim of examining different delivery models ( see Chapter 3) and a variety of SfW courses.

Depending on the partnership model, visits were conducted to the lead organisation and one or two of its partners. In three cases, the lead organisation was a college working with a number of schools, of which two each were visited as part of the research. Of the other three case-studies, one was a school working with another school, one was working with an employer, and the third had set up a partnership with a private training provider. In each of these cases, interviews were conducted with representatives of both the lead and partner organisations.

Overall, visits were carried out in three colleges and nine schools. As part of this, one-to-one interviews were conducted with 16 course lecturers, teachers or trainers, 22 school staff (including headteachers, deputes and guidance teachers), six college senior managers and/or programme coordinators, three local authority staff, and one employer working with a school. Face-to-face interviews were also conducted with 41 SfW students across the six case-study partnerships.

Analysis of monitoring data

The NFER carried out an analysis of data collected by the SQA from all delivery centres. The analysis was used to determine overall levels of completion of SfW courses of those students expected to complete their courses at the end of the two-year pilot. Additional analysis was conducted to examine any differences in relation to different courses and by student gender.

STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT

1.14 Chapter 2 explores the views of the key stakeholders interviewed at the start of the pilot in order to gain an in-depth perspective on their views of the aims and objectives of the SfW pilot.

Chapter 3 presents the different delivery models adopted across partnerships and examines their strengths and challenges associated with them, and the extent to which schools and colleges had taken up and changed the delivery models used by the end of the second year of the pilot.

Chapter 4 focuses on the characteristics of partnerships set up between schools, colleges, providers, local authorities or employers in order to deliver SfW courses and explores respondents' views on the effectiveness of these links

Chapter 5 explores the experience and impact of the delivery of SfW courses from the point of view of schools and colleges acting as delivery centres, including the practicalities of providing the SfW courses, accessing staff training and development opportunities, sharing good practice with other delivery centres, and evaluating their practice and the success of the courses. Finally, it presents their views on what impact being involved in the pilot had on their organisations.

Chapter 6 focuses on the students involved in the SfW courses - how they were selected for involvement, students' own views of the courses, their reasons for not completing the courses, and student and staff perceptions of what impact the courses had on students.

Chapter 7 explores the main challenges encountered by partnerships and the key lessons learned from the two years of the pilot.

Finally, Chapter 8 presents the main conclusion from the research and details key messages relevant to the future roll-out of SfW across the rest of Scotland.

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