Ayrshire College
A Scottish college with more than 14,000 students believes a data sharing hub has helped it provide more tailored services for young people.
Ayrshire College is just one of Skills Development Scotland’s education partners that receives regularly updated information from the 16+ Data Hub. This information is also sent to all of Scotland’s 32 local authorities.
The 16+ Data Hub links up the work going on across Scotland to help young people find positive, sustained destinations after they leave school. This joined-up approach between agencies is designed to provide earlier intervention for young people who may be more at risk of finding it difficult to stay in training, education or a job.
Opportunities for All
It forms a key part of the Scottish Government’s Opportunities for All policy agenda, which promises to offer a place in training or education to every 16 to 19-year-old in Scotland as they move towards employment.
SDS’s Senior Manager of the 16+ Data Hub Taylor Stewart said: “Through data sharing among key partners we can provide important support to young people when they leave school, specifically those who are not moving on to learning or work. No matter where they are or end up, we want to give them tailored support and reduce youth unemployment at the same time.”
We want to ensure every young person has the opportunity to receive all the relevant guidance to them. This approach includes providing them with regular contact with SDS careers advisers, who will work out how to help them.
Taylor Stewart
SDS Senior Manager of the 16+ Data Hub
Ayrshire College’s Head of Business Intelligence and Information Systems Richard Simpson, pictured above, believes the data sharing is particularly useful when it comes to providing support for the college’s most vulnerable students.
“It is useful in terms of overall planning but especially helpful when we are considering the needs of those students who may have been looked after or accommodated. By using the data, which is gathered by SDS from the school system, we can brief our teams that support those young people who may need some additional assistance,” he explained.
There are additional benefits as the 16+ Data Hub reports avoid us starting from scratch in gathering young peoples’ information and allows us to target resources for the learners who are coming through.
Richard Simpson
Head of Business Intelligence and Information Systems
Another benefit is that SDS can quickly re-engage with young people who may have withdrawn from learning.
“The information in the 16+ Data Hub is already becoming well developed and rich and this is only the beginning. As we move forward, it will be very valuable for us to know what jobs young people are looking to do, what skills and qualifications they are likely to need, so we can plan for the future,” added Richard.
What's next?
Find out more about the 16+ Data Hub and Opportunities for All.
Case studies
Read about the experiences of some of our partners and how post 16 information sharing works in practice.