Fee shock for student work experience places

PARENTS are being asked to fork out funding for their children to be sent on work experience.

The practice has become widespread since the Government dropped the compulsory scheme in 2012.

But some local families are frustrated at the fees demanded for a week of what they see as making tea or filing documents in an environment far removed from their child’s career ambitions and hardly useful for their futures.

One mother, who has daughter at Redmoor Academy in Hinckley, and who asked not to be named, said she was shocked by the arrangement.

She said: “We had an email from the school which said they use a company to organise work experience and you tell them the industry your child is interested in and they find a place.

“We were told it normally costs £60 but the school has managed to secure it for £35. It’s for insurance and health and safety checks apparently and while students don’t have to do it the school does prefer them to.

“I just think it’s a bit much if your child is just going to make tea for a week in an industry they perhaps aren’t that bothered about.

“My daughter is really interested in writing, potentially screenwriting, there’s no way she’s going to be able to do work experience in that.”

A spokesman for the education department of Leicestershire County Council said it was down to leaders at individual schools to determine their own policies.

With funding increasingly pressurised it appears parents of 14 to 16 year-olds are being left to pick up the bill for risk assessments and admin associated with placements.

Acting principal for Redmoor Academy, Matt Nicolle said the school work experience was a vital part of educational provision and to ensure placements were high quality and meaningful, as well being with reputable companies, they used an external provider.

He added: “As with the majority of schools, we do not have the expertise or capacity to provide this quality of experience inhouse and the use of an external provider ensures we get money.

“Our charging policy is not new and has been in place for a number of years and we are proud, that in the challenging financial circumstances that all schools find themselves in, we have been able to continue to heavily subsidise this provision. However, we cannot fund it in its entirety and therefore we have to ask for a small contribution from parents.”

He said Redmoor was not the only school in Leicestershire to do this and not all schools offer work experience to their students. Anyone having difficulty with paying could be supported.

He also highlighted the persistent and historic lack of Government funding for education in the county. best value for