Steve StewartExecutive Director,

Connexions Coventry & Warwickshire

Practical Aspects of E-GuidanceOR

Is it Worth the Hassle?

Content•What do we do?

•Why bother with the electronic world?

•Challenges

•Good Practice

•Coventry & Warwickshire’s next heroic phase

What do we do?

•Information

•Advice

•Guidance

•Support

•Placement

Why bother with the Electronic World?•We need to work SMART:

•Limited resources – need to do more with existing resources;

•Capacity = work plus waste;

•We need to motivate, empower and enable our most precious resource – our staff;

•It enables us to give our clients what they want in the ways they want it, eg. Connexions Direct.

ChallengesChallenges Implementation – staff training and

time, and costs of potential further refinement;

Demonstrating added value – not just doing it for effect.

Good Practice:Good Practice:Coventry & Warwickshire Coventry & Warwickshire

ExperienceExperience INFORMATION - websites

encourage young people to explore and research;

ADVICE – young people like and use email communications and phone line contacts;

Good PracticeGood Practice - continued - continued

GUIDANCE: What would we do without Computer Aided

Packages? Great potential for on-line assessment of

clients, ie. Decision Making Readiness Tool

SUPPORT: Text messaging is a key element of

support to young people and tracking; On-line assessment of risk factors.

Our Next Heroic PhaseOur Next Heroic Phase

Electronic Clearing House of all post-16 opportunities for Year 11 and 12 leavers for academic year 2004/05

What is it?What is it?

Simply, it’s an electronic applications service to year 11 and 12 young people covering all opportunities for them to progress onto, ie:

Training Apprenticeships Further Education Post-16 learning at schoolIt builds on the principles and processes of

the UCAS system.

How Does it Work?How Does it Work? Young people have access to the full range

of information on what’s on offer at the end of Year 11 and 12 (ideally a WHICH GUIDE);

The guidance community, ie. tutors, teachers, Connexions PAs, work-based learning providers, lectures etc provide impartial advice and guidance to young people to help them to decide their career plan;

How Does it Work?How Does it Work? continuedcontinued

With an agreed time period, ALL year 11 and some year 12 will make their applications;

The application is centrally cleared to the learning provider listed by the applicant.

How Does it Work?How Does it Work? continued continued

The provider makes offers to the applicants;

After exam results time, the provider and applicant confirm the placement;

Those applicants who don’t achieve any required qualifications follow a process similar to UCAS clearing.

What is the added-What is the added-value?value?

To the client – one simple, user-friendly application process to a complicated education and training market;

To Connexions – we can simply track progress of all our clients.

What is the added value?What is the added value? continuedcontinued

To learning providers – they receive applications to agreed timescales with the information they need to make offers;

To Local LSCs – they have hard, up-to-date, factual data on the demand for provision which shapes planning and gives time to plugging shortages / gaps in provision.