Young people are not given work back-up

Neither employers nor schools are properly preparing young people for the world of work, a new survey indicates.

The poll, which surveyed 544 employers and 300 schools, found that 52% of businesses admitted not focusing enough on recruiting school leavers or graduates, and 46% of schools said less than half their students got into the right job or on the right course after leaving school.

The research was undertaken by b-live, which works with schools to support young people’s vocational development. It also found that while almost three-quarters (73%) of employers said work experience is the most effective step in making school leavers, graduates and apprentices employable, less than one in six (18%) believed they actually provided enough work experience.

Meanwhile, a third of schools said the number of students going into employment was their least important measure of success and two-fifths of teachers did not feel the careers curriculum to be central to their school’s objectives.

B-live managing director Tanja Kuveljic said both schools and employers recognised that more needs to be done to prepare young people for work, but pointed to the competing pressures teachers face “with much of their time spent focusing on exams”.

“Only when employers provide support to schools in delivering the careers curriculum will young people leave education with the relevant skills and realistic expectations of the workplace,” she said.