Sheffield based company, my-work-experience.com, has been approved by Sheffield education chiefs to provide support for Sheffield schools’ Key Stage 4 work experience programmes. For the past eight years such services have been provided by government funded Education Business Partnerships, but the recent withdrawal, by the coalition government, of the £25m annual funding led to my-work-experience.com winning the contract to provide a fresh approach to providing work experience for the young people of Sheffield.

The provision of work experience for fourteen to sixteen year olds has formed part of the school Key Stage 4 curriculum since the school leaving age was raised in the early 1970’s.

Despite the lack of funding and the government’s proposed withdrawal of the statutory requirement for schools to provide work experience for this age group, a recent national survey conducted by my-work-experience.com has found overwhelming support by teachers for work experience at Key Stage 4. Summed up by one teacher, ‘Work experience is a life changing and life enhancing experience – less academic students come back to school motivated with self esteem raised and high fliers are enthused and inspired – the experience is a precursor to GCSE and the post 16 decision making process’.

Based on the belief that work experience is an essential element of the education provision for 14 to 16 year olds my-work experience.com will work with Sheffield schools and local employers to continue their valuable support for this important stage in the development of our future work force.