Work Experience - Educational Work Experience at Secondary Level in Australia and The United Kingdom

Educational Work Experience At Secondary Level in Australia and The United Kingdom

Work experience is offered on the national curriculum for students in Years 10 and 11 in the United Kingdom (4th year in Scotland), Australia and New Zealand; every student who wishes to do so has a statutory right to take work experience. In 2011, however, the Wolf Review of Vocational Education proposed a significant policy change that—to reflect the fact that almost all students now stay past the age of 16—the requirement for Pre-16 work experience in the UK should be removed. Work experience in this context is when students in an adult working environment more or less act as an employee, but with the emphasis on learning about the world of work. Placements are limited by safety and security restrictions, insurance cover and availability, and do not necessarily reflect eventual career choice but instead allow a broad experience of the world of work.

A student who fails to find a placement may sometimes be forced to attend school everyday—continuing the normal school day, or doing a placement around the school such as aiding the caretaker for example, or helping out elsewhere in the school, such as with language and PE departments, or with ICT technicians.

Students are not prohibited from working at a company outside the conurbation of the city or abroad. Routine safety checks on the companies are now more thorough and students who arrange placements at failed companies are forced to find a new placement; companies that fail to comply with statutory requirements for insurance and child protection may be prohibited from officially taking students. (This depends upon the LEA.)

Most students do not get paid for work experience. However, some employers pay students, as this is considered part of their education. The duration varies according to the student's course, and other personal circumstances. Most students go out on work experience for one or two weeks in a year. Some students work in a particular workplace, perhaps one or two days a week for extended periods of time throughout the year—either for vocation reasons and commitment to alternative curricula or because they have social or behavioural problems.

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