Cyflwynwyd yr ymateb hwn i'r Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg ar Llwybrau at addysg a hyfforddiant ôl-16
This response was submitted to the Children, Young People and Education Committee on the Routes into post-16 education and training
RET 01
Ymateb gan: Education Otherwise
Response from: Education Otherwise
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Routes into post-16 education and training
Quality of information given to learners about the full range of post-16 options (vocational and academic routes post 16, i.e. further education, sixth form, apprenticeships and training, and onward to higher education)
The question refers to EOTAS children (children educated otherwise than at school by arrangement with the local authority) and not to Electively home Educated (EHE) young people. My response is in respect of EHE young people.
The quality and nature of information provided to home educated young people is entirely dependent on their parents who themselves, struggle to find good quality information. In part this is due to EHE families becoming increasingly less trusting of Welsh Government as a result of changes to EHE guidance and proposed introduction of regulations which parents consider to be draconian. This mistrust is reflected in reluctance to engage with services such as Careers Wales.
Education Otherwise has tried to work with Careers Wales to promote services to EHE young people, but our feedback is that there is no understanding of EHE in the service and that it has little to offer. Unfortunately, plans to create EHE registers (albeit not referred to as such by Welsh Government) have adversely affected this situation as parents are suspicious of contact from public bodies.
The extent to which further
education colleges are able to engage directly with learners in
schools.
In England, EHE young people
can access colleges at age 14-16 and this service has greater
demand made on it than it can meet as it is highly valued in the
EHE community. Unfortunately, Welsh Government has never agreed to
this provision and consequently, EHE young people have no contact
with colleges other than if they or their parents actively seek out
information.. If colleges were opened up to he EHE cohort it would
be highly advantageous for those young
people.
The extent to which learners in
schools are made aware of the options available to them in school
sixth forms and local further education colleges, and how closely
schools engage with local colleges. Are there any conflicts of
interest between sixth forms and further education colleges and is
this more prevalent in some areas of Wales more than
others?
EHE young people receive
limited information on post 16 options and that which is received
is after they actively seek it out. The cohort would benefit from
colleges and sixth forms offering tailored material to EHE young
people based on high quality advice and training. Please note that
the training provided to local authority EHE officers by Welsh
Government, prior to the publication of new EHE guidance last year
was of extremely poor quality and lacked understanding of the
cohort. As a charity, Education Otherwise provides CPD courses to
public bodies and would support an initiative to provide well
informed training to colleges and sixth form.
The extent to which employers
are able to engage directly with learners in schools, for example
at careers events.
Employers are mostly unaware of
EHE young people and only make contact with them if already within
their social sphere.
Who else influences learners
future career choices (e.g. parents, teachers, peers), and how well
are those people supported to do
this.
Parents influence career
choices for EHE young people to a lesser extent than with school
children as home education places a strong emphasis on self
determination. However, this can lead to young people seeking
advice from peers which need not necessarily be good quality
advice.
The EHE cohort has changed in the last two to
three years and a greater number of young people are coming to EHE
because schools do not meet their special needs and mental health
needs. This sub cohort is more likely to be dependent on advice
from peers due to fractured relationships with public bodies and
schools.
How effective careers support
is at compulsory school age
To what extent careers support at pre-16 is resulting in positive
or negative outcomes post-16 e.g. young people finding themselves
not in education, employment or training
(NEET).
Research has found that EHE
young people in Wales are considerably less likely to be NEET than
their school based peers. This is generally as a result of the
emphasis within the EHE community and families on self
determination and self motivation.
Whether work experience
opportunities for learners of compulsory school are operational,
effective and meaningful and any barriers in that
regard.
For EHE young people, work
experience is almost always arranged through personal social
contact with parents or in parents’ own businesses.
Unfortunately, rather than viewing such work experience as a
positive factor in the young person’s life, it can be treated
with suspicion by some local authorities who view it as failing to
receive education rather than actively receiving relevant career
education. There is also a great deal of misunderstanding of what
can and cannot constitute work experience.
Changes in routes
post-18
Is there evidence that learners are changing their choices post-18,
including a drop in Higher Education enrolments, and if so
why?
There has been an extremely worrying development within state benefits which has severely affected choices available to EHE young people. Child Benefit (CHB) regulations allow for EHE young people to be qualifying young people for CHB purposes. However, if the young person comes ‘newly’ to EHE post 16, CHB is stopped. This means that if an EHE young person aged 16 wishes to try college, but it does not work out for them and they wish to return to EHE they cannot do so without parents losing CHB and passported benefits. Consequently, parents are reluctantly for their 16+ Ehe young people to try college if they are not confident that they will cope. Universal Credit (UC) regulations have no such provision, but UC staff routinely stop payments if a young person is not in an institution for their education.
The most severely affected young people are those with special needs who can remain in education up to age 25, as DWP regulations place them at severe disadvantage compared to other cohorts of young people.
Welsh-medium
provision
The availability of post-16 options (both academic and vocational)
through the medium of Welsh, and how this (affects) young
people’s choices.
Welsh medium education is available to a very small minority of EHE young people whose parents are fluent and supportive of their language use.
Equity of access
Are some groups of learners disadvantaged by the current system
(e.g. pupils from low-income households, learners with travel
needs)?
As above, families who are dependent on state benefits who EHE are
severely disadvantaged compared to other families.
One specific inequality faced by EHE young people is that
Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) of £40 per week for
16-18-year-olds who remain in education is not paid to them. EHE
young people are specifically excluded from receiving EMA
regardless of income. This is sorely felt by low income families
whose 16-18 year olds want to continue in education.
What support is available for
learners to improve access (financial or otherwise)?
Is there any regional variation in the information and support
provided about post-16 across Wales?
As above, no financial support
at all is provided and EHE young people are reluctant to engage
with Careers Wales. Welsh Government narrative portrays EHE young
people as ‘hidden’ or somehow lesser’, whereas
policy excludes those learners from access to EMA, 14 – 16
college provision and makes access to post 16 services difficult.
EHE families not only feel unsupported by Welsh Government, but
they also feel ‘under attack’. This situation was
worsened during Mr Jeremy Miles’ tenure as Education Minister
as a result of his very negative approach to EHE
families.
Are there any particular challenges facing learners in rural
areas?
Education otherwise is aware of
difficulties faced by some Ehe families in rural areas with access
to internet and transport, both of which are essential for young
people moving toward independence.
Are there any other equality issues?
Prejudice against
EHE young people is endemic and Welsh Government is viewed by many
EHE families as institutionally prejudice against them. Welsh
Government does not work openly and respectfully with Education
Otherwise nor with EHE families and it has taken no steps to
address its own misinformed narrative of EHE families as deviant or
even abusive. EHE families frequently refer to the Welsh Government
as propounding that narrative in order to undermine
them.
To give examples, some EHE young people struggling to enter their chosen careers have provided Education Otherwise with recordings of interviewers including an RAF recruiting officer stating that all EHE young people are socially inept and a police officer on a recruiting interview commenting that EHE families are ‘weirdos’.
EHE young people struggle with university applications as UCAS forms require information from third parties which is not available to hem and UCAS has failed to address this despite repeated requests to do so over more than a decade.
Post-16 destination data
Is there sufficient post-16 destination data collected to
understand trends and inform what education institutions deliver?
If not, what data is required to fully understand the post-16
landscape?
Independent
research from 2012 and 2017 examined destinations for EHE young
people but this is not data which can readily be collected by those
outside the EHE community due to significant lack of trust in
public bodies.
Research found EHE young people to be considerably less likely to be ‘NEET’ than their school based peers, only 10% as likely to commit an offence as their school based peers and also more likely to be gainfully employed as adults.
Welsh Government’s
role
How effective is the Welsh Government’s approach to support
participation in the full range of post-16 education and training
options?
For EHE young people, Welsh
Government is a barrier to engagement and appear not to wish to act
as a bridge. Welsh Government could take steps to change this but
appears to have no appetite to do so.
Are learners, their families
and schools aware of available Wales-wide support and programmes,
such as the Young Person’s
Guarantee?
The Young Person’s
Guarantee is not well known or well respected within the EHE
community. This is primarily due to it being mistrusted and also
lacking knowledge of or practical understanding of EHE.
To sum up, EHE families in Wales want their children to achieve suitable further education and employment and EHE young people have aspirations similar to their school based peers. However, Welsh Government is viewed by many as placing barriers in the way of EHE young people’s attainment by its polices, practices sand narrative. At the same time, Welsh Government is viewed blaming EHE young people who do not overcome those barriers.