Research into Employers' Views of Quality Work Experience
20 December 2005
Sending secondary school pupils into the workplace for a period of one or two weeks' work experience has been customary in many schools for many years. Developments in the provision of vocational education and recent changes to the National Curriculum, which have made work-related learning a requirement at Key Stage 4, have increased demand for work experience placements. This has put pressure on those organisations that already provide work experience and has made it necessary to look for ways of encouraging other employers to take school-age students for placements. In December 2004, the Employability Skills Group at Connexions West of England commissioned the NFER to carry out an investigation into the views of employers from the West of England area on the provision of work experience.