Using local employers for work-related education

Information about the setting

Cardiff and Vale College was established in August 2011 following the merger of Barry College and Coleg Glan Hafren. It provides further education at eight locations between Trowbridge in East Cardiff and Rhoose in the Vale of Glamorgan. The college’s Cardiff city centre campus opened in September 2015 and was extended in 2018.

The college has approximately 9,000 learners, of whom around 5,000 study full-time further education courses. Sixty-nine per cent of the main qualifications learners study at the college are vocational, with 31% being academic. The college’s courses range from entry level to level 5 and its provision covers nearly all subject sector areas. The areas accounting for the largest proportion of provision are arts, media and publishing; health, public services and care; and science and mathematics.

Cardiff and Vale College serves a diverse region that includes areas of significant deprivation. A minority of learners live in some of the most disadvantaged areas in Wales as indicated by the Welsh index of multiple deprivation. Thirty per cent of the college’s learners do not have English as their first language. Approximately 30% of the college population are black, Asian or minority ethnic learners.

For further education, the college has an annual turnover of £56m and employs over 600 staff. The college itself is part of a wider Cardiff and Vale College Group that includes large work-based learning providers.

Context and background to sector-leading practice

This case study relates to the inspection area of wellbeing and attitudes to learning.  The college has focused on embedding employer-linked work-related education into vocational courses.  All vocational learners have the opportunity to take part in ‘real not just realistic’ activities formally linked to their programmes of study.  The college also offers a programme of enrichment activities specifically designed to have a work-readiness focus.  This helps learners develop valuable personal, employability and leadership skills during their time at the college.

The college prides itself on being a ‘skills machine’.  Its curriculum and enrichment programmes are focused on developing skilled and employable people.  Close partnerships with key employers help identify the need for learners to have soft transferable skills that prepare them well for life as part of an ever-evolving workforce.  Such skills enable former learners to flourish as they face the challenges of a rapidly changing global economy.  Since the college was formed in 2011 there has been a relentless emphasis on ensuring that it responds to the needs of local communities and bridges the social mobility gap.  The college serves an area which is undergoing significant change, with one of the fastest growing populations in the UK, and is experiencing a significant increase in business and industrial activity.  This all contributes to the need for a strong, informed and responsive skills offer to produce a pool of employable talent for the capital region.

Description of nature of strategy or activity identified as sector-leading practice

Nearly all vocational learners work on ‘live briefs’, producing work for real organisations to industry deadlines.  Live briefs are projects agreed between partner employers and curriculum areas as part of regular employer boards.  These boards are used to link the college’s curriculum to the needs of local employers.   Examples of live briefs include learners in hospitality and catering working alongside internationally recognised professional chefs at social and charitable events.  Creative learners work backstage for large-scale concerts, design displays for the city’s theatre and organise events for CADW.  In 2017-2018, learners helped organise and stage testimonial dinners for two former captains of the Wales rugby team.  Other events have included fashion learners launching their summer clothing rage at a commercial indoor market.  The college has also established a pop-up shop to help learners who are interested in self-employment and entrepreneurship, to hone their skills whilst pursuing their ambitions.

Many learners take part in enterprise and enrichment activities that help them develop their skillsets and an appreciation of entrepreneurship as a viable career choice.  The college promotes its BEPIC brand to encourage learners to ‘be employable, purposeful, inspired, and challenged’.  To this end, the BEPIC teams of employment and progression officers, together with staff responsible for enrichment and entrepreneurship, have worked to support learners in cross-curricular participation in a range of external activities. For example, learners hosted events at the 2017-2018 National Eisteddfod, conducted sessions in bilingual storytelling, took part in a robot challenge, gave beauty treatments and supported the college cycle challenge.  Learners took part in the production of a short film called ‘Edgar’s Hair’ that aired on BBC Wales television in September 2018. 

Learners are trained alongside college staff members as ‘digital leaders’, enabling them to deliver training and support to peers and staff in using a range of software packages and new educational technology. These digital leaders have helped college managers develop their understanding of technology-enhanced learning and have hosted taster sessions for schools.

The college works in partnership with employers through its career ready programme in which learners work with several highly regarded organisations.  This programme breaks down barriers and allows young people to establish business relationships, creating a network of opportunities to aid their future progression.  Nearly all learners who took part in 2017-2018 had business mentors and all progressed onto further study at college, university or as part of an apprenticeship. 

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

The experience learners have at the college helps them develop highly effective work skills and behaviours.  They cultivate strong work-related problem‑solving skills, and grow in confidence and resilience, all of which supports them in their progression into employment.  Learners’ engagement with national vocational skills competitions is very high.  This has positive effects on their aspirations for the future and the college’s own data on learner destinations shows an upward trend in the proportion of learners who move on to further study or to work.

This quote from one learner illustrates the effect the college’s approach has had on her:

My Career Ready journey started last year. I have developed so much that I find I am almost unrecognisable from the less confident individual I was before I joined the programme.  Career Ready has given me the fantastic opportunity to develop myself into a professional, independent and self-motivated person with the confidence needed to really shine in the workplace.  I have been given the chance to gain work experience at a corporate bank in London as well as ample opportunities to visit businesses across the Cardiff area to really network with the companies that are relevant to me.  I’m proud of the progress I have made with Career Ready and I would encourage anyone who wants to better themselves to join the Career Ready programme.