Enterprise & WRL
Financial capability includes encouraging students to learn about business
Since September 2004, work-related learning has been a statutory requirement for all Key Stage 4 students. The Qualification and Curriculum Authority’s Framework for Work Related Learning (2004) provided initial guidance to enable the fulfilment of these statutory requirements. The framework encouraged creating opportunities for students to recognise, develop and apply skills for enterprise and employability.
This has now been replaced by the QCA (now QCDA) Framework for Economic wellbeing 11-19: career, work-related learning and enterprise (2008). QCA also published guidance for curriculum managers and coordinators of career, work-related learning and enterprise education in schools and colleges that includes the new framework. This is to support schools and colleges in planning programmes for all learners in 11–19 education and recommends that all learners should have opportunities to:
- recognise, develop and apply their skills for enterprise and employability;
- relate their own abilities, attributes and achievements to careers intentions and make informed choices based on an understanding of available options;
- develop awareness of the extent and diversity of opportunities in learning and work;
- use their experiences of work to extend their understanding of careers and work;
- learn from contact with people who work;
- learn about how and why businesses operate;
- learn about working practices and environments;
- undertake tasks and activities set in work contexts;
- engage with ideas, challenges and applications from the business world.
The framework also recommends a suggested minimum provision for each key stage and details the learning that such provision should support.
The framework, linked to below, is included in a newly – published 'Work-Related Learning Guide (Second Edition)' from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF - now DfE) that provides guidance for employers, schools, students and their parents and carers (DCSF, 2009) on:
- the definition of work-related learning
- the benefits of work-related learning
- work-related learning activities
- making work-related learning happen
- the truth behind some of the myths about work-related learning
- other key information on work-related learning.
You can download the Work-Related Learning Guide (Second Edition) below.
Enterprise education
Enterprise education is a key outcome from good work-related learning. It is comprised of three strands:
- enterprise capability is the ability to handle uncertainty and respond positively to change, to create and implement new ideas and ways of doing things, to make reasonable risk/reward assessments and act on them in one’s personal and working life
- financial capability is the ability to manage one’s own finances and to become a questioning and informed consumer of financial services
- business and economic understanding is the ability to understand the business context and make informed choices between the alternative uses of scarce resources.
