Over 50 employment opportunities available - Future Jobs Fund (FJF) is part of the Young Person’s Guarantee and is a DWP initiative designed to provide employment opportunities for young people 18-24 who meet the following criteria: are 18-24 years old; have been unemployed and claiming Job Seekers Allowance for a period of 6 months plus. Participating employers will receive £6,500 in exchange for offering a 26 week minimum job opportunity at (at least) the minimum wage. Job opportunities must also be over 25 hours a week. FJF is now live across Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth and young people who meet the eligibility criteria can apply for these jobs by contacting their local JCP. Examples of vacancies currently on offer include: Administration Assistant with London Youth, After School Club Playworker with Social Enterprise London and Assistant restaurant and Bar Operations staff with Vinopolis. For further information on the FJF visit the site.

Free courses available for young people aged 16-18 who are Not in Education, Employment or Training at South Thames College, starting in January 2010. Contact the Wandsworth Campus on 020 8918 7777, or the Merton Campus on 020 8408 6500 for more information.

Activity Agreement Pilot project extension - the DCSF has announced that they will fund a further year of the Activity Agreement pilot, from April 2010 to March 2011. Ministers have agreed that the programme is imperative in preparation for Raising the Participation Age. This pilot extension will plan for succession into an RPA model, potentially as a key stage 5 re-engagement programme linked to Foundation Learning. 

The Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) is a way of recognising skills and qualifications. An online list of organisations recognised to operate in the QCF is available to view.

The Work Inspiration campaign mobilises businesses to turn work experience into work inspiration, to bridge the gap between the classroom and the world of work. The campaign focuses on three inspirations, find out more here.

How Young People Formulate their Views about the Future – Report which aims to understand how those in year 7 think about educational and career issues and what factors shape this thinking.

The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) has developed several online CPD resources to help teachers provide career-related information, advice and guidance (IAG).

Hidden talents II: getting the best out of Britain’s young people – LGA report focusing on what the issues are surrounding NEET young people, and how it should be tackled.

Life Support: Young people’s needs in a digital age – Report by youth net which shows that the internet is increasingly where young people turn for advice and information.

Education and Employers task force is an independent body which aims to bridge the gap between education and employment, and make the partnerships between the two available to all young people.

Apprenticeships ‘Good for Business’ marketing campaign was launched on the 22nd October. Employers in the public and private sectors will be targeted and the campaign runs until the end of November. Find out more here.

UKSP.co.uk - One-stop-shop for information on careers in hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism. Users can use the site to learn about the job roles, progression pathways, good employers, and places to study.

Directory of Professional Qualifications for Careers Education and Guidance – This booklet gives details of all the professional qualifications in England for teachers of careers education and guidance.

Young people’s access to advice: the evidence – Report by Youth Access and JustRights containing key research evidence on young people’s access to advice on social welfare issues.

Graduate Market Trends Newsletter – The autumn edition is published and available online. It includes a round up of graduate labour market surveys and an HECSU survey of higher education careers services.

Guidance on the Employment of Children – DCSF guidance about the special rules which apply to the employment of children under the school leaving age.

Jobs of the Future – Report about how the government intend to tackle the effect the global downturn is having on the employment rate and how the UK can prepare and adapt to the changing market in the future.

Emerging stronger: Education and skills survey 2009 – CBI and North Anglia Education Ltd report, providing information on employers’ views of education and skills issues.

National Evaluation of Diplomas Gateway 2 Led Consortium Survey - Research Brief presents the findings from a survey Gateway 2 consortium leads. Overall, consortia felt prepared for the delivery of Diplomas from September, in relation to several factors.

Raising the age of participation of young people in learning - Trials launched in 11 areas, including Wandsworth and Lambeth, will pave the way for raising the participation age in England in 2015. Read the full article here.

Understanding Safeguarding and Child Protection when Working with Young People, 10 November - this course is for counsellors, information/advice workers, youth workers, managers and supervisors of those who work with young people. £45-£110.

Safeguarding and the youth sector workforce, 20 November – PYL event in response to the introduction by the CRB and the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) of the new Vetting and Barring Scheme that was rolled out across the youth service from Monday 12th October.

Introduction to Children and Young People’s Mental Health, 4 December - Participants will be helped to explore an understanding of mental health and psychological well-being and to develop and apply knowledge of attachment, brain development, risk and resilience.

Impartial Careers Education: How whole-school leadership of IAG can make a real difference, 7 December – The National College is offering events in the autumn term to disseminate good practice and promote whole-school leadership of effective IAG.

From vocational guidance to portfolio Careers 10 December – Lecture by Dr Barrie Hopson, looking at ways in which guidance specialists can learn from the key changes to guidance policies and practices over recent decades.

National Career Guidance Show, 3-4 March - will give career professionals a chance to catch up with the latest information about career routes and opportunities in a friendly, informal, informative event.

Student Finance England: Information, Advice and Guidance Regional Seminars – Annual seminar covering a range of topics; aimed at giving an overview of their service, and updates on developments and changes taking place. The London seminars will be taking place on 11 November. For agenda and alternative dates in other locations, click here.

Diploma for the Children and Young People's Workforce - After concerns from childcare employers that standards had been set too high, a new level 2 qualification will now act as a stepping stone to the originally planned Level 3.

Student Finance - Practitioners providing IAG to students considering entering Higher Education can receive free material, resources and training sessions. For further information please contact either Michelle Wickenden, (South London) 07810 658 422  or Ben Rutter, (North London) 07554 458 871.

According to The Times, a recent survey of graduates who left university in 2005 (conducted by the Higher Education Statistics Agency) found that graduate unemployment has risen by a third in the past two years and almost a quarter were still not in full-time work.

Of those who graduated in 2005, more than 11,000 were unemployed 3½ years later. The same figure for those who left university in 2003 was just 8,000.

Among those with postgraduate qualifications, 85 per cent had been in graduate level jobs since leaving university compared with 56 per cent of those with just a bachelor’s degree.

Universities report that the number applying to start postgraduate courses this year has jumped as the graduate job market dries up. Sixty per cent of employers have cut their recruitment of graduates.

At Imperial College London, applications are up 21.8 per cent overall. Starting salaries are on average £3,000 higher for postgraduates than graduates, the survey of 41,000 graduates found.

But the cost of study beyond a first degree is borne by the student and no government funding is available for courses that cost £3,200 on average for a one-year master’s.

Sally Hunt, the general secretary of the University and College Union, said that graduates who can offer more than their peers will be at an advantage when looking for work. “Unfortunately the widening participation agenda is currently aimed purely at encouraging more undergraduates,” she said.

Among the class of 2005, nearly a fifth (19 per cent) of those working full or part-time were not in graduate professions, and more than one in ten said that they had been out of work at least once.

Almost a quarter of graduates were not yet in full-time paid work. The figures represent students who graduated before the recession hit — and the picture is much gloomier for the class of 2009.

Last year’s survey of graduate destinations (What do graduates do) looked at destinations before the recession had fully hit. Graduate unemployment had been falling (5.5% in 2007 compared to 6% in 2006), but there continues to be a lot of variation by subject studied:

• Arts & humanities 5.2% unemployed (but more opting for further study)
• Engineering from 2.4% (civil engineering) to 7.7% (electrical & electronic)
• Business & management 3.3%
• IT 9.5%
• Science from 3.9% (sports science) to 7% (physics)
• Social sciences (eg economics, law, politics, psychology, sociology) almost all falling unemployment

Salaries were increasing (average £19,300 in 2007) but even before the recession students were beginning to realise that increasing graduate numbers will mean a slowdown in salary increase.

In recent years (2004-07) more graduates have been entering:

• Business & financial careers (eg accounts, recruitment consultants) – 8.8% of graduates from 7.2%
• Arts, design, culture & sports (eg artists, journalists) – 4.2% from 3.3%
• Social & welfare (eg social workers, housing officers) – 4.2% from 3.3%
• Health (eg nursing, physiotherapists) – 13.5% from 12.8%

Fewer graduates entering commercial & public sector management and ‘non-graduate jobs’ in admin, retail and customer service.

Trevor Bottomley
Employment & Labour Market Adviser
Central London Connexions
November 2009