 IntroductionOpportunity North East (ONE) was a three-year, £24 million, Department for Education (DfE) sponsored project. ONE is part of DfE’s commitment to improve education and boost productivity in the North East and Tees Valley areas. ONE identified five main challenges that exist across the North East region that need to be addressed to achieve the overarching ambition:  Too few children continue to make good progress from primary to secondary.  More needs to be done to unlock the potential of key secondary schools in the North East.  Some schools struggle to recruit, retain and develop great teachers.  Too few young people find a pathway to a good career.  Too few young people progress to higher education, particularly to the top tier universities. Our focus is on Challenge 4 “too few young people find a pathway to a good career”. Overall, 28 schools are involved, 16 in the North East LEP area and 12 in Tees Valley Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area. The pilot was developed through consultation with school leads.DfE selected the participant schools. Participant students were selected by schools, up to 30 per school. In most instances, this included pupils identified by the schools as having an increased risk of becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training). Challenge 4 specifically supports students through years 10 and 11. More about the DfE plan can be accessed here. Contextual destination data – ONE VISION schoolsPupils not sustaining a post-Key Stage 4 destination (%)Historically, a significantly lower proportion of students from across the 15 ONE Vision secondary schools have a sustained destination (in education, employment or training) the year after completing their Key Stage 4 studies (age 16) compared to their peers nationally. The 2022 provisional destination data shows the destinations of a further 1.7% of pupils was unknown compared to 1% nationally. It should be noted that there is a lag in the data, for example the 2022 data set reports on young people who completed Key Stage 4 studies in 2020. The education of the ONE Vision cohort was impacted across both years of their GCSE studies by the COVID pandemic. Until national destination data is published, the national trend is to some extent unknown.
Tackling this challenge and making it relevantThe North East LEP worked to ensure better pathways to a good career starting with positive transitions for young people at the end of their Key Stage 4 studies (age 16). To meet Challenge 4, we developed and commissioned a two-year enhanced offer of personalised advice and guidance for up to 30 young people in each ONE Vision school to help them to make the best of their strengths, interests and aspirations. Examples of how this was achieved include:
The North East LEP worked with each ONE Vision school to understand what strategies would help young people secure employment, apprenticeships or continue their education in a sixth form or further education setting. This included:
 Key project outcomesThe data collected from over 2,043 interviewsbetween October 2020 (Cycle 1) and March 2022 (Cycle 6) shows pupils improved their understanding of the pathways into careers and developed greater career-based knowledge. There was 113% average improvementacross the 12 key areas of underpinning careers-based knowledge assessed through the project. 94% of pupils had decided on a sector they were interested in working inFollowing further intervention in the summer 2022 term this increased to over 97%. The number of pupils with a post-16 plan increasedfrom 75% to 98%. 97% of studentsare predicted to be in education, employment or training. 57% of studentsare predicted to have progressed to a Level 3 qualification. Only 1% of studentsare predicted to be unhappy and plan to leave their current destination. Final destination data and associated findings are based on a response rate of 37.2% (Oct 2022). Risk of becoming NEETDfE funded a report on students who are NEET (Not in Education, by the Institute of Education(2014) which concluded:
Of the ONE Vision cohort
These factors are a further indication that many of the target pupil cohort have an increased risk of becoming NEET.  Predicted economic outcomesNationally, young people who become NEET are likely to experience a range of other negative personal outcomes, triggering both personal and wider economic costs - over £77,000 each in direct lifetime costs to public finances and over £144,000 in wider lifetime costs to the economy and wider community.1 It can therefore be assumed that across the 15 ONE Vision schools every % point reduction in pupils not in a sustained destination leading to NEET has the potential to save public finances £1.85million and over £3.46million in wider lifetime costs to the economy and wider community. 2 Telephone interviews carried out during October indicate a reported NEET rate of 3% of the ONE Vision targeted pupils. This compares to the average historic NEET rate for the 15 ONE Vision schools of >8%, with a much greater rate expected within the targeted pupils. At an individual level, the interventions carried out as part of the pilot have the potential to increase by up to £3,400 each learner’s wage between the age of 19 and 24.3
Finding out about careersUnderpinning careers knowledgeLevels of student knowledge were assessed against 12 key subject areas and this information was ranked against a framework on a scale of 1 (very little knowledge) to 5 (excellent knowledge). There was positive direction of travel which indicates pupils knew better how to access the information needed to identify and secure a good career. Proportionately, the student cohort was most knowledgeable regarding:
Supporting students with special educational needsPupils identified with special educational needs or disability (SEND) made up approximately 19% of the pilot cohort. At the beginning of the pilot, on average, SEND students displayed lower levels of underpinning knowledge across all areas than the cohort average. By Cycle 6 (Easter of Year 11), pupils with SEND had made relatively better progress than the overall cohort and in most aspects measured, displayed careers-related knowledge at or above the cohort average. Supporting pupil premium studentsThe ONE Vision student cohort was made up of over 47% pupil premium students (facing a disadvantage). At the beginning of the pilot, on average, pupil premium students displayed lower levels of underpinning career knowledge across most areas. By Cycle 6, the pupil premium students had made relatively better progress than the overall cohort and, in most aspects of careers-related knowledge, had closed the knowledge gap. Where young people want to workImprovements in underpinning career knowledge were supported by students developing, over time, a greater focus on future employment sectors. Preferred Employment SectorFrom the pilot onset creative and cultural was the most preferred employment sector. Over time, there were increases in the percentage of students wanting to work in healthcare (female bias) and construction (male bias) and an overall decrease in the number of students undecided on future career sector.
Undecided On Future SectorStrategically, understanding the data allowed the North East LEP to determine where interventions were needed and to proactively engage pupils with relevant businesses, training providers and educational establishments. Post-16 Plans (Finding A Way Into A Chosen Sector)Post-16 Intended DestinationsOver time, there was a significant improvement in post-16 destination planning. At Cycle 6, 99% of students had a post-16 plan, an increase from 74% at Cycle 1. Beneath the headline data, post-16 intended destination comparison showed, over time, a predicted increase in the number of students planning to progress into further education and sixth form. The number of students planning on applying for an apprenticeship decreased.
Students unsure of their post-16 destinationUnderpinning careers knowledgeThose students who were unsure about their post-16 destination, displayed lower than average levels of underpinning careers knowledge across all areas.
Intended versus actual destinations (post-16 outcomes)Planned and actual destinationBy Cycle 6, 27% of students planned to progress into sixth form / sixth form college. Destination data suggests that overall, 28% of students are now in sixth form. 56% of students planned to progress into Further Education. Destination data suggests that overall 61% are now in FE. 13% students planned to progress onto an apprenticeship / traineeship. Destination data suggests only 6% are now on an apprenticeship or traineeship. 4% of students were unsure / had other plans, of these, one student is NEET.
Planned and actual levels of studyPlanned v actual by levelMore students than were planning to accessed Level 1 qualifications. This level focusses upon building confidence and providing an introduction to a subject, industry or area of work. More students have progressed to Level 3 courses (A levels / BTEC) than planned to. Level 3 attainment is almost always required for entry to university and many employers will be looking for Level 3 in applicants for more technical or supervisory roles.
Student satisfaction with their current destination (Oct 2022)As part of the destination analysis, students were asked how happy they were with their current destination:
Satisfaction by destination
Satisfaction by gender
Oxford University careers service - preliminary findings from the Litmus toolLitmus is a tool, facilitated by Oxford University Careers Service, which collects information about students’ frame of mind about their career plans post-school, and about the industry sectors in which they are interested.
Opportunity North East Challenge 4: business buy-inNPS organisation scoresThroughout the pilot, the North East LEP initiated a range of evidence-based interventions. Covid-19 restrictions necessitated the need to trial new ways of delivering career events. Interventions included:
Interventions were evaluated using the Net Promotor Score (NPS). An NPS below 0 indicates a lot of issues to address; between 0 and 30 is a good; higher than 30 would indicates happy stakeholders; over 70 indicates stakeholders fully support your approach. Impact and sustainable support opportunitiesData collected over 2,043 interviews suggests pupils improved understanding of the required pathway into a good career i.e., pupils, overall, understood better where to get information relating to future careers, the employment sectors available to them and the pathways available into their preferred employment sector. Pilot data suggests that regular contact with a careers adviser, coupled with accurate data recording and subsequent interventions, leads to significant increases in a student’s capacity to make the informed decisions needed to secure a good career pathway, especially for students that have higher risk factors of becoming NEET.
 Further informationFor more information, please contact Neil Willis, Regional Lead: Education Challenge | ||||||||
