The confidence to succeed

In this week’s essay, 15 year old student Leila Thompson expresses her concerns about the future world of work.

She says: “I do worry about getting a job in the future. Jobs and placements seem to be getting much more competitive; even finding a week’s work experience is proving to be difficult for me.”

Leila concludes that, in her opinion, providing opportunities for young people to develop confidence, independence and initiative, is as important as qualifications and early stage careers guidance.

Policy changes, such as the introduction of 14 to 19 Diplomas and plans for raising the school leaving age in England; and the Determined to Succeed initiative in Scotland, will dramatically increase the demand for effective and relevant methods of work-related learning.

Given Leila’s concerns about current provision, how do we enable the system to meet this increase in demand and how do we ensure that the opportunities available support young people to develop the attributes she identifies?

We must think creatively about how to tackle the issue of meeting demand without sacrificing learning opportunities and quality. At NESTA, we’re currently exploring new models of work-related learning which will, in part, attempt to address this.

As always, we welcome your comments.