Secondary schools must provide students with at least six “encounters” with further education providers from this month, following a change in the law.
Legislation was changed on January 1 to provide pupils with more exposure to technical education opportunities in a move to beef up the so-called “Baker clause” introduced in 2018, with a warning that schools that fail to adhere to the new rules face a legal direction from government.
Secondary schools now have a legal duty to provide pupils with “at least six encounters with a provider of approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships”.
The new law states that two of these must be in the “first key phase” of school – to take place any time during year 8 or between September 1 and February 28 in year 9. Another two encounters must then be in the “second key phase” – to take place any time during year 10 or between September 1 and February 28 in year 11.
