COLLEGESWITH ASPECIAL FOCUS

Some schools, academies and colleges specialise in vocational subjects and offer bespoke curriculums to help students on the way to their chosen careers.

Some have aSTEAM (Science, Technology,Engineering, Art and Maths) or health focus, while others specialise in music, dance and performing arts and broadcast media.

Students can choose arange of subjects that arerelevant to their chosen futurecareer and can take advantage of industry-standardfacilities.

These specialist schools, academies and colleges work in partnership with the industries so that students areable to apply their learning to the world of work.

This ensures that they arefully equipped to successfully compete for places in Further Education or the increasingly competitive job market.

Specialist vocational qualifications arehighly valued as they encourage and stimulate students’ achievement through practical learning and forms of assessment based on applied knowledge and understanding of the relevant subject area.

Level 3vocational courses arebroadly equivalent to 3A-levels in the National Qualification Framework and areaccepted for university entry via the UCAS points system.

As well as astrong commitment to academic rigour and vocational excellence, they arealsodedicated to the personal development, support and wellbeing of students.

Thereare also Studio Schools, which seek to address the growing gap between the skills and knowledge that young people requiretosucceed, and those that the traditional education system provides.

They areusually small schools for 300 students; and with year-round opening and a9-5 working day,they feel morelike aworkplace than aschool.

Studio Schools will offer arange of academic and vocational qualifications. Students also get paid work placements linked directly to employment opportunities in the local area.

Many collaborate both with local businesses and the biggest corporations to ensurepupils get arealistic insight into the industries and give the chance to participate in work placements.

Students will gain abroad range of employability and life skills through the CREATE skills framework, and will have the option to go on to university,further training and employment.

Bridging Thegap Between School Andworkplace

University TechnicalColleges (UTCs) aregovernment-funded schoolswithaSTEMfocus

Throughtheir association with employersand universities, throughproject-based learning, andthrough afocus on technical subjects,UTCsbridgethe gap between theworld of education andthe world of work.

Today, thereare 48 UTCs open across England, educatingin theregionof17,500students, andsupportedbymorethan400 employersand universities.

They aim to preparestudents forfuturecareersinindustries such as engineering, healthcare, social care andscience.

They offerasecondary-age educationfor KeyStage 4and KeyStage 5withsome starting earlieratKey Stage3. UTCs aresaidtobemore than just aschool. As well as providingastronggrounding in thecoresubjects of English, Mathsand Science, each UTC hasone or more technical specialism linked to theirlocal industry partners

Thecurriculumprovides ablend of academic and technicallearning, with balance appropriatetoeachKey Stage. They aim to offeryoung people theeducationtheyneed today to equipthemfor tomorrow’s careers andstudentsare given chancestogainrealexperience that is genuinelyrelevanttotheir future.

On leavingaUTC,studentshave alreadyestablished connections with localemployers,have appliedpractical skillsthrough project-basedlearningand are used to working in aprofessional environment.

This makesthemhighly employableand sets them up for abroadchoiceofpathways.