Sep 12, 2017
EngineeringUK has recently been awarded funding from the Careers and Enterprise Company. Through the Tomorrow’s Engineers programme we will be working with STEM Learning to create a different approach to outreach, bringing together employers and schools to embed careers within the curriculum. Bryan Berry, Tomorrow’s Engineers Programme Director explains more about the Tomorrow’s Engineers ENTHUSE Partnerships programme, why it was created and what it aims to achieve.
Last year EngineeringUK commissioned a report through the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to look at the existing work of Tomorrow’s Engineers, Careers and Enterprise Company and STEM Learning to recommend ways to take our work it the next level. With all three organisations working to inspire young people to study science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects, and ultimately to pursue a career within science and engineering, there is an overlapping synergy between what we all do. The report confirmed and highlighted a mismatch between what schools want and what employers are delivering. Research also showed us that when employers engage with schools effectively, adding to the curriculum, it can increase the desirability of engineering for further study and as a career.
The recommendation from BCG was that something different needed to be done, ideally with an escalated menu-based offer model, working from broad inspiration at the beginning, to deeper interventions at the end. Activities in this model could include work experience placements, presentations or workshops, to name a few.
Tomorrow’s Engineers ENTHUSE Partnerships will pull together the strengths and experience of our organisations. Tomorrow’s Engineers will bring expertise engaging with engineering employers and schools; STEM Learning’s ENTHUSE Partnerships support clusters of schools and colleges to address local issues of underachievement in STEM subjects and the Careers and Enterprise Company have experience of providing enterprise advisers to schools. This coordinated partnership is well-placed to deliver a solution that works effectively for employers and schools alike.
The programme will run for 2 years, initially involving 200 schools. We will encourage schools to work in cluster networks, each cluster consisting of six schools. The lead school will be responsible for recruiting a primary and 4 secondary schools and driving the programme in their cluster. Each cluster network will receive £12,000 to improve student progression in STEM subjects.
Understandably, each cluster will identify different requirements, and this is where the menu-based offer comes in to enable the services to be tailored to their needs. Through the Tomorrow’s Engineers employer network, we will continue to build and nurture relationships with employers, supporting and listening to what they can provide and how they want to get involved, helping to broker that relationship with schools.
If you would like to get involved in this programme, please email the TE team on [email protected]
The Tomorrow’s Engineers ENTHUSE Partnerships programme covers the following LEP areas: Coast to Capital, Coventry and Warwickshire, Cumbria, Gloucestershire, Greater Birmingham and Solihull, Greater Cambridge and Greater Peterborough, Greater Manchester, Humber, Lancashire, Leeds City Region, Leicester and Leicestershire, Liverpool City Region, Sheffield City Region, Solent, South East, and Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.
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