Raising the Participation Age – Employer Responsibilities
(England)
Summary
The new Education and Skills Act requires that all young people
participate in education or training up to the age of 17 by 2013
and the age of 18 by 2015. The Act has introduced a new duty
on employers to support young people as the learning leaving age
rises. Employer responsibilities can be summarised as
follows:
- Checking the young person’s evidence that they are in
learning, before they begin employment.
- Where businesses are employing 16-17 year olds (for
20 hours a week or more, for more than 8 weeks) and are not
providing accredited training, agreeing reasonable hours of work so
that the young person can access training elsewhere to the
equivalent of one day per week.
More information can be found in the DCSF brochure which you can
download here.
Semta View
While recognising the value of increasing the participation of
young people in learning, we are concerned that work-based learning
is not viewed as a panacea for disaffection and social exclusion.
Employers and work-based learning providers do not have the
capacity or capability to engage all the young people who are
currently not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET). Semta
will be working with employers as the changes approach, to ensure
the learning available to young people meets their needs.
12 December 2008
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