Realising the North East Ambition (RENEA)

Realising the North East Ambition (RENEA) Partners: • North East LEP • Third Life Economics • ESRC Local Acceleration Fund

BACKGROUND

Realising the North East Ambition (RENEA) is an ESRC Local Acceleration Fund project. The North East has a high youth unemployment rate despite much investment in programmes, unfilled vacancies in certain sectors, and close relationships between the LEP and local education providers. As a result, RENEA was developed to consider how to address the demand/supply skills mismatch in North East labour markets with particular reference to young persons’ (YP) career choices and progression through the Further Education (FE) College system.

WHAT WE DID

INE led a mixed-methods project comprising three principal stages of investigation: quantitative analysis of students’ intended destinations from three North East FE Colleges (a cohort of over 7,000 students); focus groups with approximately 20 learners at each of four FE Colleges; and interviews and roundtables with relevant stakeholders, including the Department for Education, National Careers Service, Gatsby Foundation, Careers Enterprise Company, and North East LEP, to co-develop findings and policy development proposals.

Key activities and outputs

Quantitative analysis found most students enrolled at Level 2 progress to Level 3 and beyond, with Higher Education, Employment, and Apprenticeships the most popular destinations in that order, with HE functioning as the default pathway for those who meet eligibility and qualification criteria

Focus groups revealed that de-risking and reducing the uncertainties of alternative pathways is a major ask of the education and skills system, alongside greater tailored and nuanced support with career choices and work experience

Co-production of six areas for policy development with policymakers and practitioners:
- strengthening student/learner voice
- deepening Gatsby benchmarks
- whole-person approaches to liveability
- employability and career development support
- richer and more diverse work experience
- strengthening the evidence and intelligence system
- reducing system complexity

A policy checklist of six questions for North East leaders to appraise future CEIAG and YP progression proposals, each with illustrative local actions

A strong case made for a refresh of the Labour Market Information and FE College management information systems to deliver greater alignment and make them more fit-for-purpose for place-based policy development

RENEA demonstrates how a small intervention can amplify system-wide areas of concern and suggest credible ideas and solutions, including proposals to delayer and simplify the education, skills, and employment eco-system as part of North East devolution deal negotiations

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