Activity Name Careerpilot Sessions Date 120 individual dates throughout Tranche 3 (September 2018 – July 2019), some with multiple sessions delivered (≈220 sessions delivered) Location 56 target schools and colleges across Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset (see schools involved) Total number of ≈9000 Students students (≈8400 Year 9, 10 and 11; ≈600 Year 12 and 13) Number of target ≈2200 Students, 24.4% of total participants students (≈2000 Year 9, 10 and 11; ≈200 Year 12 and 13) Schools All Saints Academy, Bideford College, Bishop Fox's School, Bodmin involved College, Brannel School, Bridgwater & Taunton College, Bridgwater College Academy, Brixham College, Bucklers Mead Academy, Callywith College, Chilton Trinity, Clyst Vale Community College, Coombe Dean School, Cornwall College, Cullompton Community College, Eggbuckland Community College, Exeter College, Fowey River Academy, Great Torrington School, Haygrove School, Hayle Academy, Heathfield Community School, Hele's School, Honiton Community College, Humphry Davy School, ISCA Academy, King Edward VI Community College (KEVICC), Lipson Co-Operative Academy, Mounts Bay Academy, Notre Dame RC School, Paignton Community and Sports College, Penrice Academy, Pilton Community College, Plymouth School of Creative Arts, Pool Academy, Robert Blake Science College, St Boniface's RC College, St Cuthbert Mayne, St Ives School, St James School, Stoke Damerel Community College, Teign School, Teignmouth Community School, Exeter Road, The Blue School, The Castle School, The Ilfracombe Academy, The Spires College, The Taunton Academy, Tiverton High School, Tor Bridge High, Torpoint Community College, Torquay Academy, Truro and Penwith College, Uffculme School, West Somerset College, Whitstone School Introduction Throughout Tranche 3, Next Steps South West (NSSW) staff worked across Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset to deliver Careerpilot sessions to target and non-target students in years 9-13 across 56 target schools. All sessions were designed around the Careerpilot website, an award-winning online resource that provides free, impartial information and support on the many routes to higher education (HE) and higher-level study. Throughout Phase 1 of NCOP, NSSW offered two Careerpilot sessions: Job Sectors – delivered to Key Stage 4 students (primarily in Year 9), with a focus on helping students explore different job sectors and understand how higher education relates to their career opportunities. HE Skills Mapping – delivered to Key Stage 5 students (primarily in Year 12), designed to help them use Careerpilot as a tool for identifying and recording skills and experiences relevant to progression into HE. All sessions were based in computer suites at target schools, and were led by the NSSW delivery team (Institutional Officers (IOs) and County Outreach Officers (COOs)). Sessions Careerpilot Sessions Report Tranche 3 Eleanor Hodgson (Evaluation Specialist) Page 1 were supported by Student Ambassadors (SAs), who helped facilitate activities and provided additional information regarding their experiences of higher education. As a key intervention within the NSSW core offer during Phase 1, Careerpilot sessions were offered to whole year groups in target schools. As a consequence, in Tranche 3 a mixture of target NCOP students and non-target students engaged in sessions, enabling NSSW to support a large number of students (≈9000) across all three counties access this resource. Aims The two Careerpilot sessions aim to support students to address key barriers identified by NSSW relating to their Knowledge of HE, Socio-economic factors, and Soft Skills. Both workshops aim to help students think about their future career plans, including HE. The Job Sectors session focuses on helping younger students explore different job sectors, careers, and their entry requirements, and to encourage them to consider HE as part of their career route, including higher level apprenticeships. As such, this session familiarises students with the ‘Jobs’, ‘Courses’, and ‘Qualifications’ sections of Careerpilot, and aims to broaden students’ understanding of career and study routes. The HE Skills Mapping session introduces students to the ‘Post-16 Skills Map’ tool on the Careerpilot site. It helps students to use this resource in order to identify, evidence, and record their skills in personal statements for UCAS, college, apprenticeship and job applications. Overall, both Careerpilot sessions aim to support students in increasing their motivation and raising their aspirations. Through the use of Careerpilot, and through discussions with delivery staff and SAs, the workshops encourage participants to reflect on their future plans, and give them tools with which to make informed decisions about their next steps. Evaluation Design and Data Collection Evaluation of Careerpilot sessions across the NSSW consortium in Tranche 3 consisted of a post-activity evaluation survey for each session type. These surveys were designed to evaluate the short- and medium-term outcomes of each session outlined in the tables below. Careerpilot – Job Sectors Session Barrier to HE Short-term outcomes Medium-term outcome Knowledge of HE Increased knowledge of graduate Increased understanding of opportunities benefits of HE study Socio-economic factors Increased understanding of job Raised aspirations sectors Careerpilot – HE Skills Mapping Session Barrier to HE Short-term outcomes Medium-term outcome Knowledge of HE Increased confidence in Increased understanding of evidencing transferable skills for how to access HE courses HE progression Soft Skills Increased ability to identify own Increased awareness of transferable skills and those transferable skills for future required for HE progression study and employment Impact evaluation surveys consisted of a range of questions to gather data relating to the session outcomes and the barriers with which they were aligned. In total, 1115 surveys were Careerpilot Sessions Report Tranche 3 Eleanor Hodgson (Evaluation Specialist) Page 2 collected throughout Tranche 3 for both Careerpilot interventions. After cleaning, this sample was reduced to 1064 surveys for data analysis, comprising 806 ‘Job Sectors’ surveys and 258 ‘HE Skills Mapping’ surveys. Evaluation Results and Analysis The following sections present data from the two separate Careerpilot session surveys, with analysis highlighting key findings and the evidence these results indicate in relation to session aims and the NSSW barriers to HE. Job Sectors Session (Key Stage 4) Given the primary focus on job sectors in this Careerpilot session, the evaluation survey firstly gathered evidence to ascertain whether students had found the intervention useful in this regard. Figure 1 shows that the significant majority (87%) of respondents found the session either ‘Very useful’ (36%) or ‘Quite useful’ (51%) in helping them to explore job sectors and career options, with only 2% stating that it was ‘Not at all useful’. How useful was this session in helping explore different job sectors and career options? Not very useful 7% Not at all useful 2% Unsure Quite Useful 4% 51% Very useful 36% Figure 1 – Students’ perceptions of usefulness of Job Sectors session This data indicates that students found the sessions beneficial, although it does not show whether the sessions met the short-term outcome of increasing students’ understanding of job sectors. Figure 2 presents data relating to this outcome, showing responses to a multiple choice question asking students to select one of four definitions of the term ‘Job sector’. Thinking back over the session, which of the following best explains what a job sector is? 53% 23% 11% 13% The name given to a group of related jobs or careers The different courses you can study to be qualified for a particular job The individual roles in a company The location of a job (e.g. office, outdoors, shop) Figure 2 – Students’ definition of ‘Job Sector’ Careerpilot Sessions Report Tranche 3 Eleanor Hodgson (Evaluation Specialist) Page 3 Although 53% of respondents selected the correct definition of the term ‘Job sector’ (‘The name given to a group of related jobs or careers’), this proportion is not significantly high enough to conclusively suggest that the sessions were effective in ensuring that the majority of students increased their understanding of the concept of a job sector. From this data it could therefore be argued that in future Careerpilot Job Sector sessions it would be beneficial to ensure that students have an explicit understanding of the term ‘Job Sector’ before they are introduced to the ‘Jobs’ section of Careerpilot. However, it should be noted that, as with the majority of multiple-choice ‘tests’ like this, not all students will select the correct answer. Figure 3 shows students’ use of Careerpilot during the session. Whilst 87% of respondents agreed that that Careerpilot had helped them research jobs in which they had already been interested (42% ‘Strongly agree’, 45% ‘Agree’), it is of note that 82% of respondents agreed that they had discovered new careers and their entry requirements (30% ‘Strongly agree’, 52% ‘Agree’). This data indicates that students’ interaction with Careerpilot and their participation in the session may have raised their aspirations for their career plans, broadening their understanding of the different career routes and job sectors available to them. 'I used Careerpilot today to...' 60% 52% 45% 44% 50% 42% 40% 40% 34% 30% 27% 30% 20% 20% 12% 11% 13% 8% 5% 6% 10% 3% 1% 1% 4% 1% 0%