Evaluation of the Activity Agreements Pilots EVALUATION OF THE ACTIVITY AGREEMENTS PILOTS Final Report Blake Stevenson Ltd Glenys Watt, Director Ian Clark, Associate Director Lorraine Simpson, Consultant Alasdair Stuart, Consultant Scottish Government 2011 © Crown copyright 2011 You may re-use this information (excluding logos and images) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ or e-mail: [email protected]. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. This document is available from our website at www.scotland.gov.uk. ISBN: 978-1-78045-277-7 (web only) The Scottish Government St Andrew’s House Edinburgh EH1 3DG Produced for the Scottish Government by APS Group Scotland DPPAS11816 (07/11) Published by the Scottish Government, July 2011 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................1 ACTIVITY AGREEMENTS OVERVIEW ..........................................................................................1 EVALUATION ..................................................................................................................................3 METHODOLOGY.............................................................................................................................4 REPORT STRUCTURE...................................................................................................................6 2 CONTEXT........................................................................................................................................7 CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE (CFE).....................................................................................7 16+ LEARNING CHOICES ..............................................................................................................7 GIRFEC............................................................................................................................................8 MORE CHOICES MORE CHANCES (MCMC)................................................................................9 GET READY FOR WORK..............................................................................................................10 EDUCATION MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE (EMA)....................................................................11 SUPPORT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE................................................................................................11 3 QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS ..........................................................................................................12 SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS: .......................................................................................................12 SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT STATISTICS ....................................................................................12 PILOT AREA DATA RETURNS.....................................................................................................15 CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUNG PEOPLE..................................................................................15 DESTINATIONS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE LEAVING THE PILOT ..................................................18 EARLY LEAVERS..........................................................................................................................21 EARLY LEAVERS AND KNOWN DESTINATIONS COMBINED ..................................................21 4 FINDINGS: PROCESS ISSUES ...................................................................................................22 SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS: .......................................................................................................22 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................23 WHO ARE THE YOUNG PEOPLE PARTICIPATING IN THE PILOTS?.......................................23 WHAT ACTIVITIES ARE ON OFFER TO YOUNG PEOPLE? ......................................................24 HOW ARE ACTIVITY AGREEMENTS DELIVERED AND MANAGED? .......................................25 THE ROLE OF TRUSTED PROFESSIONALS..............................................................................30 PARTNERSHIP WORKING AND THE ROLE OF PARTNERS.....................................................32 WHAT ARE THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH MANAGEMENT OF ACTIVITY AGREEMENTS? .......................................................................................................................................................33 5 FINDINGS: OUTCOME MEASURES ...........................................................................................36 SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS: .......................................................................................................36 SHORT-TERM/IMMEDIATE OUTCOMES OR BENEFITS IN TERMS OF YOUNG PEOPLE’S PROGRESSION ............................................................................................................................36 MEASURES AROUND YOUNG PEOPLE’S EXPERIENCE OF PARTICIPATING IN AN ACTIVITY AGREEMENT ...............................................................................................................40 IMPACT ON PILOT LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND THEIR DELIVERY PARTNERS......................41 EDUCATION MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE (EMA)....................................................................43 VALUE FOR MONEY.....................................................................................................................45 OUTCOMES ..................................................................................................................................46 ADDITIONALITY............................................................................................................................47 ADDED VALUE..............................................................................................................................47 COLLABORATIVE GAIN ...............................................................................................................47 DEADWEIGHT...............................................................................................................................47 DISPLACEMENT ...........................................................................................................................47 VALUE FOR MONEY SUMMARY .................................................................................................48 EVIDENCE FROM COMPARATORS............................................................................................48 SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES............................................................................................................49 6 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS..............................................................................51 THE AVAILABILITY OF INTENSIVE ONE-TO-ONE ADVICE AND GUIDANCE FROM A TRUSTED PROFESSIONAL .........................................................................................................51 STRONG PROCESSES FOR ASSESSING THE NEEDS AND INTERESTS OF YOUNG PEOPLE, BUILDING ON INFORMATION ALREADY COLLECTED ABOUT THEM ....................52 A WIDE RANGE OF LEARNING ACTIVITY AVAILABLE FROM A RANGE OF PROVIDERS SO THAT A TAILORED PACKAGE CAN BE CREATED WHICH MEETS THE YOUNG PERSON’S NEEDS...........................................................................................................................................52 THE AVAILABILITY OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT, THROUGH THE EDUCATION MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE PROGRAMME ADMINISTERED BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES................................52 THE DIFFERENT MODELS...........................................................................................................53 THE DELIVERY PROCESSES......................................................................................................53 NATIONAL CO-ORDINATION (OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT, MONITORING AND EVALUATION, COMMUNICATION)..............................................................................................54 RESOURCES ................................................................................................................................54 POLICY AND CONTEXT ...............................................................................................................55 OUTCOMES AND PROGRESSION..............................................................................................56 OVERALL CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................56 RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................................................................56 APPENDICES: APPENDIX 1: ACTIVITY AGREEMENT GUIDANCE ................................................................58 APPENDIX 2: TEMPLATES .......................................................................................................81 APPENDIX 3: DESTINATIONS OF SCHOOL LEAVERS FROM PUBLICLY FUNDED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SCOTLAND BY LOCAL AUTHORITY 2008-09 ...98 APPENDIX 4: AGREED DEFINITIONS .....................................................................................99 APPENDIX 5: TECHNICAL APPENDIX - QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS...................................101