LINKING LONDON STUDENT
EMPLOYABILITY EVENT
STUDENT EMPLOYABILITY
AN FE PERSPECTIVE
Barking and Dagenham College
Key Facts about Barking and Dagenham
College’s Employability Strategy
BDC is one of only 20 Gazelle Colleges in the UK.
Barking and Dagenham College (BDC) operates in an area which is the seventh highest
nationally in this index of deprivation.
BDC is a college for all age groups - with 12,000 students (of which around 3,500 are age
16 – 18) - offering hundreds of courses across a wide range of subject areas.
BDC offers courses from beginners to degree level, including a post-graduate Master of
Business Administration.
Ofsted April 2013 said:
– “Excellence in Innovation and Entrepreneurship”;
– “Outstanding Leadership and Management of the Student Experience”;
– Home of the Association of Colleges’ Student of the Year 2013:
Vicky Knight, Health & Social Care student
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Real work training environments help students develop employability skills.
Specialist off-campus training centres mean students train in a real-work
environment
– Motor Vehicle & Motorsport Training Centre
– The Broadway Theatre
– Barking Learning Centre offering employability courses for adults
National award-winners in the TES Further Education Awards
– 2014: Outstanding support for students
– 2014: Highly commended – Provider of the Year
– 2012: Outstanding e-learning team
– 2011: Outstanding entrepreneurship in learning and skills
Gazelle Colleges
Gazelle Entrepreneurial Colleges aim to prepare students for the challenges of
21st century employment by offering new models of learning based on real
business contexts and challenging work experiences, that will equip students
with the skills to be creative, confident and resilient in the workplace.
Redefining Employability
Employability is no longer just about accumulating the skills and qualifications to be
employed in jobs created by others.
Employability is about developing the T-shaped skills that make students work ready for
all types of work environments.
Entrepreneurship is about the student’s ability to create new solutions and benefits
through their own imagination and ambition to make things happen through their
interpersonal skills and personal drive.
It is a mind-set and a way of acting in the world rather than a set of defined skills.
Entrepreneurial capabilities and behaviours are learned through planned and reflective
business experiences.
Future: Rather than being enrolled onto particular courses, students could/will be
recruited as paid partners in a Gazelle Learning Company through a Learning Contract.
T-Shaped People
BDC provides a contract for entrepreneurial learning through real work
The combination of technical expertise on a chosen field together with the
wider capabilities of creativity, team-working enterprise and other personal
qualities is captured by the idea of T-shaped people.
Entrepreneurial Pod
The Pod is an entrepreneurial zone based within the College designed to help students
and members of the local community to develop their entrepreneurial business and
employability skills through action.
Components of the POD
Learning Companies
BDC Learning Companies are identifiable accounting divisions of BDC holding
company – Aspire, limited by guarantee, with a charitable aim of advancing
education.
They operate as normal commercial entities to provide authentic working
environments i.e. motor vehicle garage, construction service, design academy
and Citizen’s Advice Bureau. Comprehensive working practices learned in one
context will be directly transferable into other commercial contexts.
These students will be work ready, have contributed to a real commercial
venture, be able to demonstrate a level of business ‘nous’ that will be valuable to
future employers.
Components of the POD (Continued)
Students are exposed to a framework of entrepreneurial capabilities:
Self-Efficacy – Personal qualities needed for success in new world of work
e.g. focus and drive, reliability, reflectiveness
Social Skills – capabilities to fund, make and manage networks and
collaborations e.g. team working, networking, communication, customer
service.
Functional Skill – Knowledge and abilities in particular business or technical
areas, e.g. technical competence, technical knowledge and e-confidence.
Enterprise – Understanding and aptitudes for driving successful enterprises,
e.g. commercial nous, creativity, problem solving, risk-taking.
Components of the POD (Continued)
Entrepreneurial Programme
Provides a range of course seminars and workshops that give students a taste of what is
needed to start a small business, to be entrepreneurial and become work ready.
Compulsory entrepreneurial skills tutorials.
Talent Bank
Comprised of current and past students who complete work for external and internal
clients. Real work for students process.
Launcher
Doug Richard’s School of Start-ups provides low interest loans to get small businesses
off the ground, e.g. beauty, hair, multi-media, clothing, fitness, e-commerce and fashion.
Competitions
Students take part in a range of competitions e.g. Pants for Poverty, Market Marker,
Edge, EMSI (App). Working on these real business challenges provides hands-on
business experience in: Business planning, marketing and sales strategy, team building,
idea generation, product design, website, youtube videos, pitching to experts.
Shop Outlets
As result of the successful Dragon’s Den pitches, the following building outlets
providing students with business start-ups are operating:
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Bits and Bobs – stationery
Pop Pics – photography
2 Fix Solutions – IT sales and servicing
Blooming Delicious – Floristry
Real-Work Training Environments
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Commercial Restaurants
Beauty and Hair Salons
BDC Sports Centre
Employer Partnerships
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BDC has got working and on-going relationships with organisations and companies to
assist our student’s employment prospects. We have a working partnership with the
Estee Lauder Group, where we recommend our best Hair and Beauty students for
retail beauty jobs.
BDC host Interview workshops where students have the opportunity to have a speeddating experience with employers such as Siemens, Metro Bank, Bouygues, Balfour
Beatty, MACE and Skanska.
BDC also run a programme giving students the opportunity to practice their interview
and presentation skills. Giving competence based feedback and advice on how to
present to an audience, a panel and give a power-point presentation, as well as CV
advice.
Employability Qualifications Offered by BDC
Edexcel Level 1 Employability
This course will help learners move towards and into employment via
the development of essential employability skills.
Progression to Level 2
NCFE Level 2 Employability
This course is designed to enhance employability skills for a variety
of learners, including individuals looking for a career change and
under-16s in compulsory education.
Progression to Level 3