A warm welcome for new guidance to help care-experienced young people access HE

The Department for Education has just published guidance for higher education (HE) providers on how to better support care leavers in getting to and finishing university

We know that young people who are care-experienced are often vulnerable and find the transition to HE extremely difficult as they may not have the support networks that other young people rely on when making decisions and applications to HE.

We’re a Statement of Intent signatory to the Government’s Care Leaver Covenant (CLC) and warmly welcome this guidance. We look forward to working with institutions to develop ways to increase the number of care-experienced students who access higher education, that when they do get in to HE they get the support they need, and ultimately a successful transition to independence.

Celebrating the value of apprenticeships

This week is National Apprenticeships Week, which aims to celebrate the impact of apprenticeships on individuals, employers and the economy.

Research by the Sutton Trust found that the best apprentices – those with a level 5 qualification or higher – will earn £50,000 more in their lifetime than someone with an undergraduate degree from a university outside of the Russell Group.

We really believe in the value of apprenticeships as an alternative to university and a great choice for many young people. We’ve seen this for ourselves: Reshma has been part of our finance team since last summer, and has been working with us while studying for her accountancy qualifications.

Reshma studied Pharmaceutical Science at the University of Portsmouth and worked in the health sector for five years in various roles from consultations to dispensing medication. She wanted a change of career and began her journey in accounting last year.

We caught up with Reshma to see why she the idea of an apprenticeship appealed to her:

“I began my apprenticeship with Causeway in July 2018 and have never looked back.”

“I chose the apprentice route because it allowed me to gain the skills, experience and qualifications I wanted whilst earning a wage. I enjoy being responsible for the purchase and sales invoices ensuring all payments are made and received on time.”

“I feel like a valued member of the team, working alongside the Finance Manager/CEO and the wider team to ensure the smooth running of the organisation.”

“This apprenticeship has allowed me to gain an insight into what working in finance is like and allowed me to utilise my theoretical knowledge in a practical way. After completion, I hope to continue to work towards becoming a Chartered Accountant.”

It’s been so valuable having Reshma with us - and great to see first-hand how real-world experience and study can combine to provide benefits not just for organisations that want to share expertise and provide opportunities to learn, but also for those who wish to study.

How to make Information, Advice and Guidance more effective for students

Yesterday marked the end of the Office for Students’ consultation on the next steps for improving student Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG). Our Director of Research and Policy, Dr Michael Englard, explains why we think ‘supporting the supporters’ is so important.

The draft strategy shows that improving support for students is an urgent need. For those with an interest in what happens to students they leave school or college, the awkward IAG phrase is never far away. But, as the OfS makes clear, there needs to be a radical re-think of this catch-all term. At present, students are besieged by information but given little guidance in how to use it effectively.

The Office for Students' proposals make a strong case for taking a more personalised approach, which we at Causeway fully endorse. To make long-term systemic change, however, we need new ways of thinking about the underlying problem and innovative programmes to begin to address it.

The dominant discourse around Information, Advice and Guidance tends to position students as singular decision makers, diligently finding information on websites and then occasionally turning to their parents or teachers for advice. For anyone who works with students, the reality is quite different. Student choices are social as well as individual; partly emotional and partly rational. The process by which young people make life-altering decisions is rarely linear and often highly unstable. Crucially, students' decisions are powerfully shaped by the ongoing conversations they have with their key influencers - namely, their parents, friends and teachers. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds rely particularly on these "hot" networks of support rather than the "cold" information provided by websites and search engines.

In other words, if a new approach to Information, Advice and Guidance is to be effective then we need to start by ‘supporting the supporters’ and not to think about them as being peripheral or secondary to student decision-making.

One of the most crucial groups of influencers are, of course, teachers and careers advisers. Given the immense and shifting complexities of the ‘choice landscape’ and the everyday demands of school and college life, teachers need help and training in providing outstanding support to students. One example of this training is our Access Champions programme, which helps senior teachers to improve their school's systems for supporting students getting ready for life after schools or college.

Like the Office for Students, we would like to see long-term sustainable changes which will contribute to their ambitious target of closing the gap in access between the most and least advantaged students within a generation. If we are going to achieve this, we need to ensure that teachers are given the ongoing support and training they need to make a vital difference.