Academy plan to train young ‘failed’ by school system

The Yorkshire Post understands the board of Leeds City College will meet this week to discuss proposals for the establishment of an “apprenticeship training agency and technical academy” to offer vocationally-focused courses to young people currently being failed by the local educational system.

Leeds and the wider city region are recognised as suffering from severe skills shortages, with a disproportionately high level of young people not in education, employment or training – known collectively as NEETs.

The new academy would aim to address the issue by offering a far more vocational curriculum, with longer hours to ensure youngsters are better equipped for the real world of work, and with business leaders regularly invited in to talk about the opportunities which are available locally and the skills city firms require.

Neil McLean, chairman of the college’s board of governors, said: “It looks as if it would address a critical need. It would be very focused on NEETs and potential NEETs, and children currently being failed by the system, because they are not being given a good technical training which maybe they are more suited for.”

Mr McLean said it was too early to say how large an intake the new academy would cater for. Leeds City College itself had 60,000 enrolments this year.

The college will also have to consider whether the training academy conflicts with other schools in the city – but backers are confident the highly vocational focus would clearly differentiate it from more academic institutions.

Nationally, youth unemployment has become a massive problem since the economic crash, with more than one million young people now out of work – the highest level since the early 1990s.

Mr McLean, who is also chairman of the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said the academy would have real benefits, not just for the youngsters themselves, but also for the wider economy.

“From the city region perspective, there obviously has to be huge concern [about youth unemployment] – both for the students and because it’s potentially a huge waste for us all,” he said.

“We have a young and growing population here, and we have to be able to maximise what they can deliver for themselves and the economy of the city region.”