Effective school outreach needs employer collaboration

Georgia Greer, head of insights at the Institute of Student Employers, delves into ISE's latest research on school outreach activities 

Good relationships with schools and colleges have become more critical in recent years as employers seek to build a strong talent pipeline for apprenticeships.

However, just the sheer volume of schools and colleges compared to universities makes it a very different prospect to the graduate market.

The Institute of Student Employers (ISE) launched surveys with schools, colleges and employers to understand current experiences of school outreach activity and how it could be improved.

The research

The report, Forging Stronger Bonds: Redefining Employer-School Engagement for Tomorrow, shares the findings of 91 schools and colleges and 53 student employers, from a range of sectors and organisation sizes across the UK.

We defined 'school outreach' as:

"The participation in one or more activities between an employer or organisation and schools and colleges. The core purpose is to engage, inform and inspire young people within educational establishments in preparation for a successful transition from education into employment."

The findings show a common interest from all parties to do more quality and impactful engagement and outreach activities, to continuously improve the quality of experiences offered, and to enable positive outcomes for students, employers, and the UK's future workforce.

What do schools want?

There are a wide variety of activities being undertaken currently, from careers fairs and assemblies to workshops, mentoring, and more.

While schools mainly felt there was the right volume of careers fairs and emails, there was a call for more one-to-one mentoring, careers assemblies and practical guidance such as help with CVs and interview practice.

The majority of schools and colleges said they would prefer activities to take place during assemblies or lesson time, that they take between 30 minutes and an hour and 57% felt it was important they were linked to the curriculum.

In terms of frequency, typically lighter touch activities (such as emails) were desired more frequently than careers fairs or workshops. This is likely to be good news to employers who told us that their biggest challenges with delivering engagement and outreach activities were time and resources.

That said, the research also showed that in-person activities were heavily favoured, with 88% wanting the encounters to happen in person at their school or college, and 67% wanting in person activities at the employer's location. Few (19%) preferred virtual live events, with a slightly stronger preference for virtual on-demand activities (23% preferred this option).

A collaborative solution

It's clear from the findings that schools and colleges would value the opportunity for less frequent but quality in person experiences for their students, over virtually delivered activities. This can be difficult for employers to deliver given their time and resource challenges.

Collaboration rather than competition among employers could provide a solution, with two thirds of schools and colleges and 82% of businesses calling for more employers to come together to deliver career activities either by sector, skill or career pathway.

Employer responses highlighted a slight preference towards sector-based collaborations, while schools and colleges a slight preference for cross-sector based collaborations. Cross-sector collaborations means multiple companies from different sectors coming together to discuss specific skills or career pathways, such as IT, regardless of their core business sector.

Collaboration may be particularly important for non-university career routes as schools and colleges reported a lack of student engagement in T-levels, apprenticeships and Higher Technical Qualifications, compared to university.

It could also be a solution to challenges around work experience provision. The majority (74%) of schools and colleges, and half of employers reported difficulty organising work experience, Common reasons were a lack of resources and time as well as a disconnect between supply and demand.

Third party partnerships and long-term employer relationships were highlighted as ways to make the process easier. Employers could also work together to deliver an experience that simulates working on a real-life project.

While the report revealed both educators and employers are keen to forge stronger connections and improve career experiences for young people, there was also a clear call for more employer collaboration.

Sector and cross-sector collaborations provide an efficient and effective way to inspire and educate students about careers and bring both vocational and academic pathways to life.

Written by

Georgia Greer

Head of insights

Institute of Student Employers