Business And Education: Working Together To Build A Positive Future For Young People

We may be well into the summer months, but the work being put in by North East colleges to support young people shows no signs of slowing.

Michelle Rainbow, Skills Director at the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), gives an overview of how colleges have supported their students, local communities and business partners throughout COVID-19. During what must be the most difficult and unpredictable few months many young people have faced, colleges in the North East have consistently gone above and beyond to support not only their staff and students but also their local community.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges have been open, making sure that vulnerable young people and children of key workers are safely accommodated on campus, providing remote provision and one-to-one learning, and looking after the wellbeing of their students.

In addition many colleges have also played an active role within their local community, quickly mobilising to produce PPE and opening up online learning to businesses, with furloughed staff being able to access free training on topics including project management and leadership.

And in turn, the team here at the North East LEP has moved quickly to help colleges weather the storm and adapt to the changing landscape of education and employment. The North East is home to the country’s only College Hub which brings colleges together to share learning, with a particular focus on making sure that young people in our region have access to the highest levels of careers guidance. In the last few months this focus has broadened and we’ve been using our College Hub network to quickly share information from the North East COVID-19 Economic Response Group, and from national organisations like the Association of Colleges, with college leadership teams.

The North East COVID-19 Economic Response Group is leading the economic recovery plan for the region and has gathered data on how COVID-19 has impacted on the job market and progression routes such as apprenticeships. Task-and-finish groups have been created to focus on key areas such as apprenticeship provision and higher level qualifications. Changes to the job market, apprenticeships and the new T-Level qualifications, which roll out from September, will of course have a significant impact on the work colleges to do help young people transition into the workplace.

For students who are finishing their further education, this has been a hugely unsettling time and colleges and employers have been working together to find new ways of help young people move successfully on to the next stage of their lives, whether that involves higher education, apprenticeships or employment.

This is one area where our network of Enterprise Advisers – business leaders who form a vital link between industry and education – has come into its own. Enterprise Advisers have been helping schools and colleges to put in place virtual work placements and trial new ways for young people to gain meaningful experience of the workplace. We’re also working with employers in a range of sectors – including automotive, health and life sciences, digital, and energy – to put together guidance for college staff and learners on the skills that employers are looking for in their future employees and how the sectors are likely to change in the future.

Many North East employers have stepped forward to work with the education sector as we move towards recovery from the pandemic together and there are plenty of opportunities for businesses of all types to work more closely with colleges, helping to shape a positive future for young people in our region.