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<p>Work experience is an important aspect of the support pupils receive to follow
rewarding learning and training pathways which lead to fulfilling careers.</p><p>The
department works with The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) to support secondary
schools to provide pupils with multiple interactions with employers from year 7 to
year 13 in line with Gatsby Benchmark 6, Experiences of the Workplace. The department
has asked CEC to drive this agenda forward at pace to increase workplace opportunities,
targeting pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, in response to evidence that these
pupils are less likely to access work experience opportunities than their peers. In
the latest annual data, 64% of institutions fully achieved the experiences of the
workplace benchmark, which is a 12% increase from the year before.</p><p>The CEC Careers
Hub network has been asked to use a proportion of their Hub Delivery Fund to stimulate
meaningful employer-led activities to increase the quantity and quality of opportunities
for young people to engage in encounters of the workplace with a focus on alternative
provision, special educational needs and disabilities and Pupil Referral Units across
all year groups.</p><p>In addition, £1.9 million has been invested to support Careers
Hubs to offer workplace experiences for up to 15,000 economically disadvantaged young
people, including virtual workplace experience pilots for more than 1,000 schools
in coastal and rural communities, providing access to wider national networks of employers
outside their local community.</p>
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