New “Partnership for Inclusion through School Outreach”

The 5% Club and The School Outreach Company are pleased to announce a new “Partnership for Inclusion through School Outreach”. This will see them working closely and collaborating to assist employers in their approaches to School Outreach and engagement, and to support young people and their parents, guardians and teachers in making informed choices about their pathways into work and the breadth and depth of available “earn and learn” scheme opportunities.

Given the multiple sources of careers advice and the associated potential for confusion, this new partnership will help shape and focus employer activity, and help open inclusive workplace opportunities for all. It will also shape and encourage positive employer action, especially in those hardest to reach areas that are so critical to inclusion and social mobility. It will maximise the presented opportunities and remove unnecessary or unseen barriers to the provision and quality of early careers advice to young people, and the critical role employers can play in providing high quality, age-relevant and timely schools outreach activity. 

At a time when there is an unprecedented demand for skills across the country and throughout all sectors of the economy, the partners are keen to ensure young people are provided with appropriate and balanced advice and make the right and relevant early connections with employers and the world of employment. Their shared mission is to challenge established norms and help employers access young talent across the UK, increasing the scale, diversity and inclusion of younger workers and enhancing the appeal and accessibility of employer “earn and learn” programmes. Thus ensuring the wealth, breadth, and depth of talent within our young people is maximised in full, for the benefit of each young person, their future employer and wider UK society. 

The partners are well aligned for this collaboration, with The School Outreach Company being the leading provider of school outreach services and completely focused on promoting career opportunity, championing diversity, and driving social mobility; this achieved by helping employers connect and engage effectively with schools through a national network of offices and career coaches reaching more than 100,000 students every year. The 5% Club strives to inspire positive employer action for increased and accessible “earn & learn” schemes, across its 700+ and growing membership, representing 5% of UK workers, and 10% of available apprenticeship programmes and graduate schemes. In moving forward, they intend to produce shared thought leadership articles and expert opinion, Employer Insight and Learning Events, and an expansion of The 5% Club Employer Audit scheme (awarding Gold, Silver, and Bronze membership).

The School Outreach Company’s CEO said,

“This partnership is a hugely exciting development and represents a great opportunity to extend our reach into schools and colleges throughout the UK. Whilst the early talent market is buoyant, there is still a significant gap in provision when it comes to engaging with schools, providing career advice and signposting pathways into employment. Whilst we work with our clients to raise awareness of apprenticeship and school leaver opportunities our core mission is to drive greater diversity, social mobility and candidate equity. 

The opportunity to amplify this cause through The 5% Club and their member organisations is significant and we are looking forward to continuing and championing this cause together.

Mark Cameron OBE, CEO of The 5% Club said,

“This new and novel partnership broadens our approach and will provide further insight and opportunity for our members as the strive to improve the diversity and social mobility within their workforces, and consider how to best utilise schools outreach to build relationships and effectively engage with young people” 

He adds, “The 5% Club is well placed for this challenge, with our growing membership now numbering over 700 Employers, representing 1.6m workers and more than 93,000 staff members on earn & learn schemes. We have a record of inspiring our members to create opportunities using workplace learning, and this partnership will help members extend their reach and influence back into the classroom, helping young people make informed choices on the pathway into work.”

As part of this partnership, The School Outreach Company and The 5% Club have committed to work together on initiatives and activities which underpin their shared values of helping employers create more diverse and inclusive talent streams.

The first of these activities will be delivered in October via a joint event The Impact of School Outreach: driving inclusion in your attraction strategy.