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£1m prize launches as 68% of young people say school did not prepare them for work

The Big Education Challenge, a new £1 million prize fund, has been launched by education charity Big Change. It will reward bold ideas with the potential to transform education and learning in the UK, as new data reveals that two-thirds of young people feel the education system did not prepare them for life or work.

The research conducted by Big Change and Opinium found that 18-25 year olds feel failed by an education system that did not adequately prepare them for their futures, or prioritise their needs. 73% think school subjects do not reflect what young people want and need to know for their lives.

Seven in ten (68%) feel that what they learnt in school did not equip them for the workplace, with a similar figure (71%) saying that the ‘one size fits all’ approach to education is failing too many young people.

79% of 18-25 year olds think that schools should teach life skills as well as academic lessons, as seven in ten (69%) say that the school curriculum focuses on subjects that are no longer relevant.

Lisa Eigbadon, Youth Adviser at Big Change and co-founder of job board Grassroots Graduates says: “The education system doesn’t prepare young people for their future in terms of teaching them life skills. I left school and started my first job at 16 - that’s when I was introduced to things like tax, company benefits, pension schemes, and National Insurance - all these real-life situations that you are not prepared for at school. Education should reflect real-life scenarios making sure everyone is prepared and ready for the real world.”

The new data also revealed the lack of diversity in the system, as 18-25 year olds feel that the system does not adequately cater for diverse needs, with three-quarters (74%) of 18-25 year olds suggesting that the current education system does not sufficiently cater for students struggling with their mental health and two-thirds (65%) saying the same about special educational needs. Three in five (61%) of this age group think that the education system leaves the most disadvantaged pupils behind.

Holly Branson, Trustee and Founder of Big Change said: “The current UK education system is too focused on standardised testing in the form of highly stressful one-off exams. The exam-based, ‘one size fits all’ approach, does not work for too many young people and those who support them. It does not support diversity and individuality, and teenagers’ wellbeing too often comes at the cost of doing well in high-stakes exams. “I strongly believe that the lack of diversity in the curriculum narrows the mind. It’s so important that we work towards transformation of education – to a system where individuality is not only permitted but valued as part of success. Young people themselves must be given the power to change a system that’s not working - this is exactly what the Big Education Challenge hopes to achieve.”

The Big Education Challenge will draw on over a decade of experience from Big Change and seek to leverage the lived-experience of young people to transform the future of education by awarding support and funding to 18-25 year olds with bold ideas.

The Big Education Challenge is made up of two prizes. The £300,000 Groundbreaker Prize will reward young people aged 18-25 with a bold idea or new project and the £700,000 Gamechanger Prize will reward individuals with a track record of leading innovative projects or approaches with tangible social impact.

The challenge will support bold new ideas that support young people to thrive and prepare them for their futures. These may include ways to make learning more inclusive, relevant and joyful, new projects that give more agency over education to young people and teachers, ways to integrate learning and assessment, and involving the wider community in supporting education and learning.

Caireen Goddard, Senior Director of Impact at Big Change said: “Our research reinforces the view that the current UK education system is not working for all children, or preparing them for their futures. We know that too many young people are being left out of school due to exclusion or risk feeling like a failure due to the pressures of high-stakes exams. Our outdated, one-size-fits all system needs to change, and that change has to be led by the people who know the system best.

“That’s why we’ve launched the Big Education Challenge – with its specific Groundbreaker Prize for 18-25 year old innovators - to catalyse and accelerate change in education, starting from those who’ve experienced it most recently. We want the challenge to reach young people with bold ideas that tackle the problems as they see them, and to create projects that show a new way of doing things is possible. We need to set our sights on the long-term transformation of education, not more incremental reforms. Transformation only happens when you shift power.”

Entries to the Big Education Challenge close on 8 February 2023, with finalists for both prizes announced in March 2023.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Andrew McKay .