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Many colleges have responded to the loss of teaching and assessment opportunities by staff
working longer hours. There are now repeated reports of staff burnout (see Part 4).
Mitigations for the FE Sector
Theme 1. Vocational disruption for young people, economic participation, and
apprenticeships
Overview and assessment of the evidence
Mitigations for this harm include interventions for catching-up after career breaks,
economic disruptions to vocational training and apprenticeships, health-related
disruptions and supports for returning to work.
Systematic review evidence on mitigations in relation to vulnerable groups suggest that
interventions can be partially effective, albeit based on incomplete evidence, with the
possible exception of apprenticeships that showed consistent positive effects (European
Commission, 2013). The literature also appears to point to the variability of the employer
placement being an important factor regarding the effectiveness of a work-based
intervention.
With regards to expert views evidence of COVID mitigations and emerging best practice
from the Sector, there are the following observations.
• Current mitigations in the form of government programmes (e.g. Kickstart) are wellintended,
but may be having limited impact due to the fact that employer capacity has
been harmed by the pandemic, particularly in the service-sector. However, the
programme is still in its early days and so its effectiveness could change.
• We do not yet know the speed and scale of economic recovery that could 'mop-up'
unemployed young people.
• There is sufficient concern in policy circles about a generation of young people being
'scarred' by the pandemic and its wider social effects (and therefore not being 'mopped
up' in an economic bounce back) that are prompting official enquiries and calls for an
'Opportunity Guarantee' (that is now policy in Scotland and Wales).
• Mitigation proposals move firmly into political territory with proposals from the LGA
and other bodies with an interest in localism and sustainability policy for a 'green
recovery' that has young people at its centre.
Systematic review evidence on mitigations for vocational disruption
We searched for systematic review evidence concerning recovery from 'vocational
disruption' in fields and time-periods beyond the Sector in 2020-21. We found a total of 10
relevant systematic reviews in this topic area. All reviews identified multiple studies.
There is evidence from these studies that interventions to incentivise employers to provide
high quality apprenticeship programmes may prove beneficial for longer term labour
market engagement of young people and that this should be allied with other related
support measures for young people.
• How has COVID-19 disrupted the UK labour market, and how can better adult training
and job placement aid the recovery? (Eyles, 2021). This review looked at evidence on
the current condition of the UK labour market, its findings suggests that an improved