It’s no secret that compulsory GCSE resits are causing further education colleges a major headache as they contend with scarce resources, often disaffected students, and low success rates, as seen in the most recent GCSE results only a matter of weeks ago.

According to a recent study, between the ages of 16 and 19, only 13 per cent of students in general further education colleges achieve a grade C or above when resitting English, while only 5 per cent achieve a grade C or above in maths.

One of the most persuasive themes amid calls for reform of the resit system comes from those looking for “applied” versions of maths and English specifically tailored for those studying vocational courses.

This year, the technology campus at Activate Learning, where I work, piloted an applied IGCSE English course developed and delivered in partnership with a civil engineering firm and aimed specifically at students studying level 1, 2, and 3 courses in construction, plumbing, motor vehicle maintenance, and engineering.

Engaging employers

We wanted to create an IGCSE that went beyond business as usual, giving those students who had struggled with English at school a fresh new perspective on the subject and we wanted to prepare them for work and for citizenship in a world beyond education.

Our approach to directly engaging employers in the design of the course and by inviting them into the classroom was motivated by a range of factors.

Studies have shown that students are more likely to engage with and succeed in English and in maths if work is contextualised and they can see its relevance.

Employers are well placed to show and not just tell students about the relevance of the skills they are learning. This appears particularly important because a troubling 46 per cent of employers are apparently concerned about young people’s command of English. By engaging with employers we, and the students, are able to find out which skills they really need to be developing. Finally, there is the striking finding that students who have four or more positive experiences with employers while in education are 86 per cent less likely to be NEET.

For 12 weeks, 37 students worked on a project that required them to explore, from a local perspective, the current UK housing crisis and to identify a suitable location for 2,000 new homes in Oxfordshire. Working in teams, they developed their reading skills while looking at newspaper articles on the crisis, reading diary entries about flooding in the area, studying technical manuals relating to soil types and drainage systems, engaging with the local council’s strategic plan, and considering the NHS’s Healthy New Towns strategy.

Once their research was complete, the students compiled reports for submission to the engineering firm, recommending sites for development. This work required them to hone their persuasive and formal writing skills and to plan and redraft and redraft again until they were satisfied they had work they could present to a “real life” audience.

Throughout this process, the employers supported the students, introducing the project at the beginning and paying monthly visits to the classroom to provide feedback and answer questions. On the completion of the project, they listened to formal presentations delivered by the students, judged the final reports produced by the teams, and awarded a week’s work experience to the winners.

As a result of the project, students reported feeling more motivated to study English and they were more likely to say they enjoyed the subject, findings apparently borne out by a 5 per cent increase in attendance.

Students were also more likely to report seeing the relevance of studying English beyond securing their C grade. In their IGCSE English exams, 76 per cent of the students made at least one grade worth of progress and 62 per cent secured a grade C, compared with 47 per cent in Activate Learning colleges last year.

While the softer skills we sought to enhance by the project are less easy to measure, the employers were impressed by the students reasoning and communication skills and they said their preconceptions of level 1 and 2 students had been challenged by the experience.

We are now looking to build on what we learned from this project, developing this approach within the college’s technology faculty so that elements of both our maths and English GCSE courses are delivered in this way across three campuses.

Alice Eardley is a teacher of English at Activate Learning