Schools should be measured on student progress post-school, not just exam success

Recommendation made as Institution of Mechanical Engineers launches new proposals for closing the engineering skills gap

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is today calling on schools and colleges to be measured on the education, training and employment destinations of their leavers, and not just on their academic achievements.

This is one of the key recommendations being made by the Institution as it launches a new framework for Government, industry and education to work together to narrow the gap between the demand and supply of engineers.

Peter Finegold, Head of Education at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said:

“The UK is facing a severe engineering skills gap. It is clear that much more needs to be done by Government, industry and education providers to attract and train more UK engineers.

“A key problem is that many young prospective engineers are poorly informed by schools and colleges about potential careers in engineering - just 17% of young people are happy with the level of careers advice they received from teachers. Measuring a schools’ success on the progress made by students once they’ve left school would be a key way of encouraging better careers advice.

 “It is imperative that Government works to make it more attractive for industry, especially smaller companies, to develop meaningful relationships with schools and colleges. The UK should be inspired by work in Germany which sees local employers provide rich opportunities for work experience, and where students are taught about the country’s labour market.

“While it is imperative that careers advice is impartial, it is also vital that careers advisors are upfront in explaining that some subjects and qualifications, such as science and maths, have a greater value in the labour market.”

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Closing the Skills Gap framework and the Engineering Skills for the Industrial Strategy policy statement are being published to coincide with Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (4-8 November) which is a week of activity that showcases all the exciting businesses and industries - including space, construction, transport, cosmetics, medicine, food, and fashion - that rely on the work of creative engineers. The Institution is holding an exhibition on the Bloodhound SuperSonic Car for that week at the House of Commons in Westminster.

The Institution’s Closing the Skills Gap framework presents the following recommendations to help attract more young people into apprenticeships and engineering degrees:

1. Careers. Careers-related learning must be a core feature of mainstream education – as is the case in other countries that successfully recruit into engineering – and not simply be left to a plethora of external agencies. Misinterpretation of impartiality should not prevent young people from finding out about the breadth of career routes and destinations.
2. Employer-education partnerships. Evidence exists that pupils benefit from their teachers having authentic experience in industry and in research environments. Government should both support and incentivise a new wave of teacher industrial and research placements, that will lead to stronger ties between employers and schools.
3. Evaluating what works. Informal learning initiatives can have a powerful influence over young people’s career paths. The engineering community needs to be more robust in evaluating which enhancement and enrichment interventions work best, and use this evidence to plan how best to make use of its finite resources.