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Shamim, Eva, Abbie-Lee and Lizzie are all in their early 20s. They are all members of our Youth Advisory Group, part of our organisation which brings together the perspectives of current and former students. In this article the group, reflect on our latest report, looking at 15,000 young people鈥檚 perceptions about their career readiness and skills.

From September 2021 until February this year, more than 15,000 students filled in the 鈥楩uture Skills Questionnaire鈥�. From identifying awareness about apprenticeship pathways and A Levels, reflections on what essential skills a young person has, to capturing knowledge about labour market information, this new tool is being rolled out by 91论坛 across England.

Big changes during secondary school

For Abbie-Lee, one of the biggest surprises in the data was how much improvement you can see on the impact of careers education from starting secondary school to leaving. 鈥淚 just couldn鈥檛 believe how much progress had been made. You can physically see what鈥檚 changing 鈥� more young people aware about all different types of opportunities and jobs.鈥�

鈥淵ou start out in Year 7, without all that much awareness of different jobs and gradually over your time experiencing a careers programme that increases. When I went through school it just wasn鈥檛 as sophisticated as that鈥� she added.

For Lizzie 鈥淭he confidence young people have in their essential skills as they went throughout school was what was most exciting. For this Covid-generation of students, it鈥檚 just brilliant that they鈥檙e becoming more confident in Years 9, 10 and 11, and particularly great that 鈥榮taying positive鈥� and having that resilience is the skill they鈥檙e most confident in.

You can鈥檛 be what you can鈥檛 see 鈥� the power of pathways

One of the main themes in the February 2022 data was increased knowledge about apprenticeships as young people go through secondary school.

鈥淚f you鈥檇 asked me when I was at school what an apprenticeship was, I wouldn鈥檛 have known, and I鈥檇 have said it鈥檚 something to do with bricklaying鈥� Lizzie said. 鈥淥n my year in industry at uni I was at Airbus, and I was just in awe of the degree apprentices I worked with. Getting paid to study and to work is so empowering.鈥�

She added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 fantastic to see that improvement over time, the more young people go through school, the higher their awareness about apprenticeships is.鈥�

Shamin thinks that knowing about apprenticeships has become even more important for the current generation of students. 鈥淚t鈥檚 brilliant to see knowledge improving. Partly it鈥檚 cultural 鈥� from my experience and for so many of my friends, uni was the expected route. It鈥檚 what your mates did, and it鈥檚 what your parents wanted you to do. So having conversations about apprenticeships starts to normalise it. But as uni gets more and more expensive too, and you get new professional apprenticeships in different businesses starting, it becomes an option you can鈥檛 ignore.鈥�

Starting earlier

While the Youth Advisory Group were pleased to see improvements over time, the data made them reflect on the importance of sharing information with students as early as possible.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great things improve, but young people need to know about options earlier鈥� according to Eva. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e only knowing about an apprenticeship in Year 10 then it could be too late. What if you need a certain GCSE subject to go into it? Even just having some awareness at the start of secondary school could make a big difference, it might even be a big motivator for some people knowing that not everything leads to an academic option.鈥�

Abbie-Lee agreed. 鈥淚鈥檓 from Liverpool, and we lacked social mobility. Everyone I know did blue-collar jobs and I planned to become a teacher because it was safe, stable and that鈥檚 the only job I knew. If I knew more about the jobs earlier on, I鈥檇 have chosen different options and thought about different courses. Without exams in Year 7, 8 and 9, there is so much more opportunity to focus on careers and get students interested in the different possibilities out there for them.鈥�

Awareness about the labour market

The initial findings of the Future Skills Questionnaire found that a majority of students knew key facts about their local labour market and by KS5, 72% of students had thoughts about how jobs and careers might change in the future.

For Lizzie, that鈥檚 an important indicator for how careers education is changing. 鈥淎t school I didn鈥檛 necessarily know what jobs existed in my local area, let alone what jobs might not yet exist.鈥�

鈥淚 just didn鈥檛 think about the labour market at all. But actually, that鈥檚 so vital to everything 鈥� including where you might want to live.鈥�

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know anything about salaries, how jobs change based on what the local economy is like, or that it鈥檚 more expensive to live in different areas of the country. Young people having those skills now, and the ability to think about it and weigh it up, will mean so many more picking the path that鈥檚 right for them鈥�, Eva said.

For Abbie-Lee, improved careers education has implications for increases in the cost of living. 鈥淚鈥檓 24, and when I was in school all I wanted was to own a house, a car and have a job. I didn鈥檛 know about the cost of living and the huge differences between different jobs and industries, especially now things are getting more expensive.鈥�

鈥淵oung people need to know about their labour market, otherwise they鈥檙e not prepared for the real world and how it will impact on them for the rest of their life.鈥�

Find out more about our Future Skills Questionnaire findings. 91论坛 will be looking at national data from across the country, while 91论坛 in their school or college also use it to evaluate and continually improve the careers education programmes they run.