What do you want to do?

For many years our children have been at the centre of a stand-off between the education and business sectors. Schools have not been able to provide the appropriate employability training due to constraints from the curriculum, while employers have not been sufficiently active in shaping what a job-ready young person should look like. Until now…

The broad aim of the Diploma is to offer opportunities at Key Stage 4 that mirror the employment sectors that drive the British economy. The first five ‘learning lines’ will be introduced in September 2008 and by 2013 there will be 14 individual subjects available to give pupils a better balance of academic study, vocational training and work experience.

Through buy-in from the DfES, QCA and the Sector Skills Councils, the new qualifications will have improved credibility as the elements are backed up by generic skills training that will transfer from the classroom into the workplace.

The purpose of this website is to complement the range of ‘official’ information on background, rationale and syllabus content by providing some tips and advice on which companies might support your delivery and how you can make the most of Education-Business Links in the Tees Valley.

You can view business case studies, read about some teacher visits to local companies and share ideas and resources.

So, the clock is ticking and the countdown has begun – let’s put the Tees Valley on the Diploma map!

With the new Diplomas just around the corner, it is time for schools to consider how they work with local businesses to help with their delivery. The aim of this toolkit is to introduce the role of Tees Valley’s Education-Business Link service and highlight some of the companies that support our initiatives.

This information is correct as at May 2007 for more up to date information please check the dfes website.