Job experience funds axed

THOUSANDS of Oldham pupils will not take part in valuable work experience following the scrapping of funds by the government.

Positive Steps Oldham (PSO) — which has organised work experience placements for the last 25 years — has managed to secure alternative funding for 40 per cent of mainstream pupils. But the rest will need work placements paid for by their schools or parents.

Though work experience has never been compulsory, most schools have used it to give children an experience of working life in higher school years.

A PSO-organised work experience placement costs £35, which covers all the necessary statutory checks. If a school organises the placement itself, it pays PSO £28 to carry out the same checks.

Steve Murphy, PSO director of career, guidance and support services, said his organisation had contacted school to warn there would be a cost for future placements.

But PSO later found alternative funding to support some placements, which were allocated to schools based on the number of leavers who hadn’t found further education, training or a job.

The cut follows a review of vocational education by Professor Alison Wolf commissioned by education secretary Michael Gove.

A Department for Education spokesman said: “Professor Wolf told the Government that the provision of genuine work experience for older students should be the top priority — that’s why we’re implementing her reforms in full so that 16-19 year olds get high quality, work-related learning.”

The department claims Professor Wolf found work experience for younger students is ot only expensive, but has problems: fewer employers are willing to have under 16s on their premises, the paperwork associated with placements has increased and the current statutory requirement is of limited value because very few 16 year olds leave school for full-time work.

“It is down to schools to judge whether and how to offer work experience from now on — and decide whether to buy in services from Education Business Partnerships.”

Oldham’s National Union of Teachers secretary Tony Harrison said: “If managed properly, work experience is a valuable way of young people being able to develop and give them confidence to make good choices. It should be seen as a right for all young people and not an optional extra for those families able to afford it. Youth unemployment is a serious problem.”


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