The review report
The purpose of the review was to hold a mirror up to the post-16 sector in Kent, identify its strengths and weaknesses and develop collaborative ways to strengthen it. It was becoming obvious that the system was becoming increasingly fragmented, the offer for vulnerable learners was shrinking and NEET numbers were rising. The review became a matter of urgency.
KCC carried out the review between 2021 and 2022 with the support of ACL recruiting. Extensive interviews took place with senior leaders and experts working across the system and with young people to give a rich evidence base. The full review report (PDF, 3.4 MB) was published on 28 April 2022. An executive summary of the review (PDF, 1.3 MB) is also available.
The eight principal recommendations were:
- Improve outcomes through establishing a comprehensive benchmarking programme and promoting the adoption of a life skills curriculum
- Raise young people’s aspirations through promoting a model CEIAG curriculum and ensuring all young people are supported to consider a range of options
- Develop a comprehensive local offer, implemented through collaboration, to widen what is available and enable young people to exercise their choice
- Enhance provision below Level 2 by putting provision on a more stable footing, addressing the NEET issue and providing for progression
- Improve early support for students with mental health issues to promote well-being and remove a barrier to achievement and progression
- Improve access to post-16 provision by prioritising travel support to those who most need it to and by lobbying government to support post-16 travel
- Learn from lockdown to improve support for remote learning and retain more young people in some form of learning
- Establish a Strategic Board to take these recommendations forward and provide strategic oversight of provision.
From these recommendations was born the work of Pathway for All as it is today.