GB7 - Encounters with further and higher education
Students at XP Gateshead have:
Carried out presentations of learning on university campuses
Presented to panellists including representatives from further and higher education on their readiness for GCSE
Been toured around university campuses with inputs from current students on university life.
Had encounters with students at undergraduate, masters and PhD level.
We achieve this through... Equity mapping
Students at XP Gateshead can tell you that they have a mission to ensure that they and their peers are on a pathway to being university-ready, so that anyone of students that wants to study to university-level can do that.
We carefully map our students breadth of experiences so that all students consider further and higher education pathways as well as apprenticeships.
Our equity maps check and ensure breath of experience in employer encounters, authentic work in the field, cultural capital and many more including encounters with further and higher education.
PROVIDER ACCESS
XP Trust: Provider Access Policy Statement
Rationale
High quality careers education and guidance in school or college is critical to young people’s futures. It helps to prepare them for the workplace by providing a clear understanding of the world of work including the routes to jobs and careers that they might find engaging and rewarding. It supports them to acquire the self-development and career management skills they need to achieve positive employment destinations. This helps students to choose their pathways, improve their life opportunities and contribute to a productive and successful economy.
As the number of apprenticeships rises every year, it becomes increasingly important that all young people have a full understanding of all the options available to them post-16 and post-18 including wider technical education options such as T-Levels and Higher Technical Qualifications.
Commitment
XP Trust is committed to ensuring there is an opportunity for a range of education and training providers to access students, for the purpose of informing them about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships. XP Trust is fully aware of the responsibility to set students on the path that will secure the best outcome which will enable them to progress in education and work and give employers the highly skilled people they need. That means acting impartially, in line with the statutory duty, and not showing bias towards any route, be that academic or technical.
XP Trust endeavours to ensure that all students are aware of all routes to higher skills and are able to access information on technical options and apprenticeships (The Department of Education, July 2021: “Baker Clause”: supporting students to understand the full range of education and training options, and the Provider Access Legislation, January 2023).
Aims
XP Trust Policy for Access to other education and training providers has the following aims:
To develop the knowledge and awareness of our students of all career pathways available to them, including technical qualifications and apprenticeships.
To support young people to be able to learn more about opportunities for education and training outside of school before making crucial choices about their future options.
To reduce drop out from courses and avoid the risk of students becoming NEET (Young people not in education, employment or training).
Student Entitlement
XP Trust fully supports the statutory requirement for students to have direct access to other providers of further education training, technical training and apprenticeships. The school will comply with the new legal requirement to put on at least four encounters with providers of approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships.
This will be done in Community Meetings, in National Apprenticeship Week and National Careers Week, in addition to providers attending careers events at school or at each Trust school.