Helping young people in Alternative Provision learn employment skills for life

Progress Schools is part of Progress Education, one of the UK’s leading providers of alternative education and careers support for young people of secondary school age. We are a national organisation with 12 independent secondary schools in operation.  

The young people Progress Schools support have been excluded from mainstream school and have special academic, emotional, behavioural and social needs. Our pupils are some of the most deprived children in the UK and require a different approach to mainstream education.  

We use a range of innovative teaching methods in GCSE and Functional Skill English and maths, as well as vocational subjects to help them to succeed.  We support young people across the country, helping them to secure positive destinations – progressing onto training, employment and further education.

We fully recognise that children who leave school at 16 without further plans are at risk of becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training). Indeed, children who have attended alternative provision (AP) at some point in their lives make up more than 20 per cent of those NEET.

Progress Education is part of a wider education and training group, The Progress Group, whose four other subsidiaries specialise in supporting adult learners find a career path.

One of those organisations is Complete Skills Solutions (CSS), who specialise in helping unemployed and low paid workers gain the necessary skills required to secure employment opportunities across a number of sectors. CSS’s training courses are fully funded through the Government’s Adult Education Budget across Liverpool City Region.

Here we have the first-hand knowledge, skills and behaviours needed by young people to find meaningful employment. By utilising The Progress Group’s wider infrastructure, we are able to provide a wealth of opportunity to our learners in order to reduce their likelihood of falling under NEET status.

Students at Progress Schools attend a wide array of courses including painting and decorating, hair and beauty and construction through the strong links we have with local colleges.  

We have a dedicated team of staff who are skilled at identifying student interests and talents and matching them up with available apprenticeships and college courses to aid them on the career path, ensuring they have the skills to be ‘work ready’ into their adult life.

Most students in alternative provision are capable of sustaining further training and education but it is vitally important we offer them the right support upon leaving and throughout their lives.

We aid learners in alternative provision and our results speak for themselves. Since our launch in 2016, our schools have supported more than 1,000 children and helped them complete their year 11 education.

At Progress Schools, we are committed to supporting the potential to achieve. Through our innovative and creative approach to teaching, we have created a nurturing learning environment for our young people to thrive.

By incorporating several different techniques and approaches to teaching, we are enabling our students to develop academically, emotionally and mentally.

I have seen first-hand how an effective and properly regulated alternative provision can help young people progress and secure a better future.

Through our family of subsidiaries, the Progress Group strives to be a leader in education and training, aiding people’s growth through training so they are work ready when they leave education and can continue employment into later life.

James Madine, Managing Director at Progress Education