Certificate of Work Readiness Michelle Gibson

Skills Development Scotland Why we created the CWR It meets the demand of our 2 customer groups: employers and young people Repeated employer surveys indicating issues about lack of work readiness in young people (UKCES, CBI) the CWR meets the needs of all employers to recruit work-ready young people for entry level jobs Young people feel they could be achieving more through work experience to prepare them for work - the CWR enables young people to experience the work place and gain a national award in the process Research showed the importance of good quality work experience but no framework existed within current awards that was stipulating what “good quality” meant...this made QA of this difficult. CWR creates a standard that employers can trust as they are central to the assessment of the young person It supports Scottish Government's ‘Opportunities for All’ guarantee and The Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce

Skills Development Scotland What is the CWR? An SQA customised award developed by SDS to help young people prove to employers that they are work ready SCQF level 4 Made up of 5 SQA units including the SDS customised “Practical Work Place Skills” Unit- 190 hours of real work experience with an employer –Responsibilities of Employment – Dealing with Work Situations – Personal Development: Self and Work –Skills for Customer Care k/sqa/64560.ht ml

Skills Development Scotland Since Launch Over 3,300 young people achieving or working towards CWR since launch Being used as a recruitment tool, lead into MAs and as a supportive induction programme Delivery in 32 local authorities Over 90 Training providers and colleges now SQA accredited Mapped to CfE Employer engagement support- Graeme Hendry Providers support-Lou Donnelly

Skills Development Scotland Partnership Development- Employers Promote CWR/work experience with NDPBs and delivering 8 employer engagement contracts Continue to develop CWR as a pre-MA entry route or as a supportive induction for employers Working with Sector Skills Managers :Food & Dink Sector: Dawn Fresh, Burns Stewart and Scotbeef NHS Boards: Lothian, Health Improvement, NES Care sector in Aberdeen (Care Centre for Excellence) Agriculture-Dairy Farming via SRUC and Lantra Edinburgh Zoo- incorporated into ZEST programme Creative Industry: IronWorks, Inverness, Textile industry in Borders Housing Associations : Wheatley group(GHA), Cloch HA, Dumbritton HA, Spire HA, Parkhead HA, Contact made with SFHA.

Skills Development Scotland Partnership Development- Providers Develop robust partnerships to increase numbers of Learning Providers (EF/non EF/ MA Providers and Skills bodies to deliver Embed quality framework - working in partnership with Providers/ NTP contract Managers and SQA to embed quality training and delivery models Continuous improvement - working with SQA, SDS NTP and our evaluation teams to analysis the data/reports over the coming year to improve performance/ increased participant levels and achievement rates Develop and pilot models that tackle inequality and support disadvantaged groups including ASN, care leavers and homeless

Skills Development Scotland 2014 Plans Strategic Embed CWR/work experience within Wood-mapping, fit with MA programmes, senior phase in schools and Access to MA programmes Embed as pipeline supply for MA programme Consolidating as product of choice as stage three of Employability-skills pipeline Operational Capacity Building Fund Phase 2- targeted disadvantaged groups, equality, youth unemployment hot spots and showing innovative delivery 3 rd sector will include Housing Associations, Employers-sector specific pilots Delivery material for CWR to be updated and made more interactive-ready for August Promoting the CWR as Access to MA programme and as a supportive induction as in SDS model. Building on success so far where over 50% CWR placements turn into MAs or jobs. Promotion of IWPS for stage 2 and senior phase school delivery

Skills Development Scotland Overview films Stakeholders Overview – An overview of the benefits of the Certificate of Work Readiness for stakeholders. Participants Overview – An overview of the benefits of the Certificate of Work Readiness for participants. Employers Overview – An overview of the benefits of the Certificate of Work Readiness for employers. Training Providers Overview – An overview of the benefits of the Certificate of Work Readiness for training providers.