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Three In Four School Children Denied Work Experience Opportunity

PA  |  Posted: 2/05/2012 06:54 Updated: 2/05/2012 10:03   PA

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Work Experience
Children are not being given work experience opportunities

Only one in four youngsters nearing the end of their time in school have been given the chance of a work placement, new research has shown.

Most of those offered work experience complained it was "irrelevant and poor quality", the study by City & Guilds revealed.

A survey of more than 3,000 young people by the vocational education organisation showed that only 26% of those aged between 16 and 18 had been offered the chance of work experience.

Chris Jones, chief executive of City & Guilds, said the research identified gaps between education and employment, adding: "We have to plan how we are going to close those gaps and stop our young people from slipping through the system.

"We are calling for an All-Party Parliamentary Group to bring together key stakeholders across education, business and the Government to tackle this problem - working together, to get young people working.

"We believe more needs to be done to ensure young people get the advice and experience they deserve and we believe we are ideally placed to help realise this goal."

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vindi boy
30 Fans
04:45 PM on 05/06/2012
There aren't enough paid jobs to go round.The goverment should introduce a scheme where a person gets a reasonable wage for work dedicated to an apprenticeship or work that will benefit the community.The majority of the unemployed, are not scroungers but decent people desperate for independence and the pride of earning a wage.
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kjoshdrew
5 Fans
03:03 PM on 05/03/2012
Work expierience....am i missing something here when the current climate regarding employment is not enough jobs to go round now and even if they do get lucky enough to get the work expierience the chances of them getting a job are very low
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themadmajor
73 Fans
12:48 PM on 05/03/2012
I overheard a local business yesterday inform one applicant that they can no longer be bothered with this, and it was not because the applicants are unable to be at work on time, and it was not because they could not read or write or count to ten etc together with all the other things we have to read about on this board. It was because of the plethora of forms that have to be completed.

If any such forms are inclusive of Health & Safety and Britains compensation culture one can only ask why any business big or small accepts has any Work Experience placements when blood sucking lawyers may well have their trained scouts waiting outside the door asking who scratched their finger nail today.

This also raises the bigger question as to why anyone wants to employ anyone when a certain proffesion has a pathological need for a brand new Ferrari every year while charging £172 / hour just to photocopy documents when the work placement person may well have to stand at the photocopier for hours and earn virtually nothing.

However, does anyone out there have any facts on whether these governmental forms are excessive or is this just a bad rumour? Who has seen them?
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Kraptonfactor
They're coming to take me away ha ha, hee hee, ho
200 Fans
07:20 PM on 05/03/2012
themadmajor, I read in a newspaper recently that prospective employers of anyone wanting work experience were prevented from doing so because of the insurance costs they had to pay for them being under their apprenticeship. Maybe if the government allowed them free insurance to take on an apprentice or work experience applicant then more of them would be likely to do so?
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xrahul2295x
28 Fans
02:11 AM on 05/03/2012
too many illegal immigrants working in the uk. therefore no room for work experience, when you can get mature experienced staff for next to nothing, or staff who claim benefits and work
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thedrainpig
25 Fans
02:52 AM on 05/03/2012
It could also be down to the fact that there are too many kids at school who cannot read and write. This could be due to inept teaching and/or a parent, or parents, who are incapable of, or unwilling to, bring them up properly and teach them the basic rules of life such as manners, the ability to count to ten and simple literacy!
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Kraptonfactor
They're coming to take me away ha ha, hee hee, ho
200 Fans
07:23 PM on 05/03/2012
thedrainpig, I have often made the suggestion that pupils should not be able to leave school until they CAN read, write and do arithmetic. It's the very least any child can expect to have a chance in life.
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xrahul2295x
28 Fans
02:06 AM on 05/03/2012
my daughter is to get 12 astar GCSE's this year, and she has written to over 30 local places to enquire about work experience onlty 3 replied refusing her the rest aint even bothered to reply
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thedrainpig
25 Fans
03:01 AM on 05/03/2012
My daughter found it easy. Then again, she presented herself properly and, with our help, produced a CV/school achievement record that was good enough to interest potential placement sources (that we searched for) in her abilities.
GCSEs, sadly, are dumbed down to the lowest level, as per usual with the socialist thinking of education authorities in this country, where all are rewarded, rather than those who work their backsides off.
I did 'O' and 'A' Levels in the day when they meant something. Nowadays, I find questions in 'A' Level exams that are not worthy of 1st year 'O' Level courses on the 1970s.
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mrbruceman159557
0 Fans
07:01 PM on 05/02/2012
What no one has commented on is the fact that Work Experience has had its costs quadrupled under this coalition government. It used to cost £5000 to run it for a 240 pupil year group - this year that bill is £20,000 as they want to make a profit. The result? Work experience cancelled for current year tens. The coalition hate young people, they are an annoyance and expensive, no wonder they chose to burn down half of London last year.
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Decorus
34 Fans
05:57 PM on 05/02/2012
Ask Princess Bea's advisors how she got a work experience slot at a whizz kid asset management company in charge of paper clips, which apparently will lead to a full time job, no doubt on £70,000 plus.
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madphil2011
16 Fans
12:12 AM on 05/03/2012
Saddo ...
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RamblerBill
33 Fans
05:10 PM on 05/02/2012
I had a paper round at 14, worked in a shop as a Saturday boy stacking shelves, when I was older I worked at a mill during the summer 'vacation' and delivered the post at Christmas. When I became a student, I cleaned hospital floors during the summer and sorted post on the night shift at Christmas. I worked for three years as a labourer for an engineering company before getting into the profession I followed for the rest of my working life. I'm now unemployed and the Department for Work and Pensions insist that I need 'work experience'. Where (apart from becoming unemployed) did I go wrong?

People (of all ages) don't need work experience - they need work!
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items4meoru
82 Fans
10:01 PM on 05/02/2012
People of all ages have allready got work here...But they are all Polish.
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Kraptonfactor
They're coming to take me away ha ha, hee hee, ho
200 Fans
07:30 PM on 05/03/2012
items4meoru, that's because those jobs are advertised in Poland, not here. Employers know they can get workers cheaply who will work all the hours they want.
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DaisyMay123
66 Fans
10:21 PM on 05/02/2012
This is so wrong and the Government should be ashamed of themselves for doing this to people such as you and with experience also.

Going back a few years I can clearly see that all the problems in this country were clearly all caused by Margaret Thatcher's Governments and I don't know how she got away with it.

Hope you get sorted with something soon.
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PCMyrs
51 Fans
02:32 PM on 05/02/2012
Of course! Thats the result of the PC, child labour and H&S brigade putting a stop to youngsters doing anything. These 'work experience' jobs are nothing like real work and more likely to put them off work for life!
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cap44
0 Fans
04:51 PM on 05/02/2012
Quite how you can mix together child labour and work experience for students is beyond me - child labour is illegal for a very good reason and so it should be. Students looking for work experience are not children!
From my experience,these problems arise because employers don't understand the law (or don't want to). A classic example is where employees insist that they will only work with students if it is witnessed by another adult. There is no Health and Safety or relevant PC reason. All that happens is another myth is created, another reason for kids distrusting adults is formed and another example of the malfunction at the heart of the UK is provided.
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PCMyrs
51 Fans
05:34 PM on 05/03/2012
I agree with your second paragraph, but not your first. What is a child, what is labour?There is a total misconception in some quarters that children should not do work of any kind. Of course they should not be denied education, exploited or sent up chimneys and down mines as used to be, but it is not black and white. Children on farms traditionally and importantly help out especially at busy times. For some youngsters the experience of achieving something (i.e. work) for money is highly motivating, they should not be denied this if that is what they want. Work experience may work for the motivated, but I have my doubts otherwise.
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thereiver
49 Fans
01:37 PM on 05/02/2012
my daughter , and her classmates are due to do work experience and almost every one of them has been turned down. it appears that most of the companies the school approached dont want to take the time or give the effort to work with these children. having said that her preferential employer was very good he explained that he wants people but at 17+ years so that he can work with them and advise them, also if he finds good workers with abilities then they are at an age when he can offer them full time work and help with further education.
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buchanallan
10 Fans
01:02 PM on 05/02/2012
It is all very well to promote work placements, but where? Possible mechanical and industrial placements are plagued by Health & Safety Regulations and insurance clauses, making it impossible for a schoolchild to be put in a situation which is potentially dangerous. City & Guilds should think about the real world, rather than come out with such a statement. Of course, any placement given is going to be irrelevant and poor quality. The only thing they might be allowed to do is make tea, assuming there is not a regulation that they are not allowed near a hot kettle.
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silverbugle
11 Fans
11:16 AM on 05/02/2012
My sons got the work experiance they wanted by having a pro actice dad. One of my sons spent his with BA at Manchester Airport. He was taken on two flights and allowed up front with the pilots and when it was lunch time he sat and had a first class meal. At the end of the week he was offered a place as a BA cadet pilot depending on his exam results. Parents have to do more for their kids you cannot expect the school to do it all.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
wincanton man
108 Fans
10:46 PM on 05/02/2012
Hmmmmmm.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
wincanton man
108 Fans
10:50 PM on 05/02/2012
@silverbugle
......and at what stage is your son going to have the silver spoon removed? This is the most fatuous post I have read here - ever. Please do not try to patronise people who have school-leavers in the real world.
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Infowars0com
19 Fans
10:12 AM on 05/02/2012
Give them real job expirence, work on farms or berry pick. Get up early and work in the freash air.
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madphil2011
16 Fans
12:09 AM on 05/03/2012
You've got to be joking ... that would be the death knell for the vast majority of the current lot of teenagers ... except for those that want to succeed in life ... too many of them don't have any direction, either from parents or school ...
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Kraptonfactor
They're coming to take me away ha ha, hee hee, ho
200 Fans
07:39 PM on 05/03/2012
And if you live in an inner city area? What do you pick there, infowars0com?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
wincanton man
108 Fans
08:19 AM on 05/02/2012
Most of those offered work experience complained it was "irrelevant and poor quality",

Yeah, like I got a GCE in Biology why ain't I doing heart transplants and stuff.
Those that complained probably couln't be rsed to get out of bed for it.
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curryclan37
19 Fans
07:50 AM on 05/02/2012
WORK EXPERIENCE IS AN EXCUSE FOR EMPLOYERS TO GET FREE LABOUR,MANY YEARS AGO AT 14 YEARS OLD YOU APPLIED FOR A WORK PERMIT,FOUND A PART TIME JOB.WORKED AFTER SCHOOL OR ON A SATURDAY AND GOT PAID.
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roseandpeony
47 Fans
10:54 AM on 05/02/2012
Curryclan I both agree with parts of your post and not others. In small businesses we have taken on work experience students, and found that although they were mostly enthusiastic they were a hinderance. Professional staff had them tagging along, as they could not legally undertake the work, and it takes twice as long to perform a task whilst explaining each element.

These days you are still allowed to get a part time job weekends, starting with small number of hours at 13. All my children started at 13, and progressed onto other part time work eves and weekends. They do the hours that suit their employers and also fit around their exams. Money is a great motivator!
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PCMyrs
51 Fans
02:40 PM on 05/02/2012
... 'could not legally undertake work'. Thats it! What a waste of time for all concerned for no gain! I would be bored out of my skin on either side. Surely, the point about work is the achievement of undertaking a task, completing it and getting paid. Hanging around, doing nothing and not getting paid would turn anyone off. Is that all too simple for these zealots who pontificate over child labour?
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