Foundation Apprenticeships: Preparing Young People for the World of Work

Foundation Apprenticeships offer young people valuable work-based learning opportunities to develop their skills and employer connections  in order to build their future career pathways. Learners will now have the option to select a Foundation Apprenticeship as one of their senior phase subject choices and complete the qualification over one or two years in collaboration with local learning provider, such as a college and with an employer. Skills Development Scotland has developed the Foundation Apprenticeship

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My World of Work: New ‘pathways’ feature support the search for jobs

There are now more ways for young people to browse pathways and explore potential qualifications routes on Skills Development Scotland’s career information and advice web service, My World of Work.  Senior Service Development Executive Mairi Rule explains how these changes will help young people, and those who support them: “Our new ‘pathways’ feature is changing the way our users can search for, filter and explore job profiles.   The idea behind

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Food and drink action plan targets higher level skills

An action plan aimed at helping Scotland’s food and drink employers attract a new generation of skilled professionals has been launched by the industry. The Skills Investment Plan for Scotland’s Food and Drink Sector features a series of measures aimed at helping businesses find fresh talent, develop leadership and management skills, and boost growth through innovation and efficiency. It aims to build on progress since the publication of the first

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SDS Programme: My World of Work Live

Louise Chisholm is Programme Manager of Skills Development Scotland’s My World of Work Live! She talks about its success so far in inspiring young people and teachers when it comes to STEM careers, and some of the exciting partnerships it involves. Scotland has a world-leading reputation in a range of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) industries including life sciences, chemical sciences, games technology, astrophysics and cosmology. But 45% of

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SDS: Help with subject choices

The subjects your child chooses at school can have an impact on what they can study at college or university and what jobs they can go for in the future. Skills Development Scotland careers advisers are available in schools for one-to-one sessions with pupils making early subject choices. Building career management skills, these sessions aim to prepare young people to make confident, informed subject choices. The careers adviser will support

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Career Education Standard 3-18: Parents are key influencers when it comes to career choices

By Ken Edwards, Education Programme Lead, Skills Development Scotland ‘The most important supporters and the greatest influencers of children and young people’s learning and career choices are their parents or carers. They help their children by encouraging them to think and talk about their strengths, skills and interests; to be open minded and ambitious when exploring learning and career pathways; to be well informed when making choices and to be

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Helping you to help pupils make subject to career connections

Sharon O’Rourke, Skills Development Scotland Helping young people make connections between what they are learning in classrooms and the world of work they’ll enter when they leave school has been brought into sharp focus by Building the Curriculum 4, the Career Education Standard and of course, Developing the Young Workforce. Embedding career information and advice web service My World of Work into lessons, using SDS’s newly developed ‘lesson inserts’, is

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My World of Work Ambassadors Programme

My World of Work’ Ambassadors programme is a free, easy-to-run programme with ready-made resources that provides career education benefits for pupils, teachers, parents, carers and the wider school community. Ambassadors act as champions for Skills Development Scotland’s award-winning career information and advice web service My World of Work, helping spread the word of the support it offers to their friends, fellow pupils, teachers, parents and carers. If you haven’t used

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SDS news: Labour market low down for parents

Parents have been getting the lowdown on the labour market as part of special careers events at two North Lanarkshire schools. Coltness High School and Airdrie Academy worked with Skills Development Scotland (SDS) on the events for parents and carers whose children were making subject choices. The events – attended by more than 200 people – were part of work to expand SDS career information, advice and guidance services in

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Career Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG) reviews

The CIAG team has redesigned the review model to reflect initiatives that have been introduced recently. These include the roll out of the SDS enhanced service delivery of CIAG services across the country, the implementation of the Career Education Standard and the publication of the Work Placement Standard for schools and colleges. In addition, the outcome from the CIAG review grades, for the quality element Capacity to Improve, will now

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