Evaluation of Skills for Work courses

The Scottish Executive has published a summary of the interim findings of the evaluation of Skills for Work (SfW) pilot courses. The evaluation was carried out for the Executive by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).  A final report of the evaluation will be published in late 2007 or early 2008.

Skills for Work courses are being developed by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to encourage young people in S3 and above to develop important knowledge and skills, useful for both employment and life in general. Learning is mainly practical and takes place in schools, colleges and other work-related settings. The courses are intended to provide progression pathways to employment, training or further learning for pupils of all abilities.

To date, the evaluation has shown that schools and colleges continue to be committed to the value of SfW courses and that they have increasingly found ways to improve the delivery of SfW courses over the two years of the pilot. In particular, schools and colleges are increasingly recognising the need to work more closely together and have started to implement strategies to strengthen their partnerships.

Scottish Executive publication: Evaluation of Skills for Work Pilot Courses  Interim Report - Research Findings