Skills for Work 
Skills for Work courses are vocational courses for pupils of all abilities in Secondary 3 (S3) and above to help them develop knowledge and skills for employment and life. The courses were introduced in August 2005 and are being piloted for two years.
These courses are intended to provide pathways to employment, training or further education. They provide both the practical skills valued by employers, but also the general skills and attitudes which are needed in order to be successful in the workplace. Examples of these are time-keeping, customer care, self evaluation, positive attitudes to learning, flexible approaches to solving problems and confidence to set goals an d learn from experience.
The first phase of the pilot covered these subject areas:
- Early education and childcare
- Sport and recreation
- Construction crafts
- Financial services
Additional courses have been piloted in 2006/07 in:
Most schools have teamed up with colleges to offer these courses at Access 3 and Intermediate 1 and 2. In some schools, courses are being delivered 'in-house' using visiting lecturers or existing expertise, facilities and resources - including, in one case, the school's in-house nursery. Other innovative approaches being tested within the pilot include schools working with employers and private training providers.
The Skills for Work programme will be available for all schools from 2007/08. Further new courses have been developed in Engineering Skills, Hospitality and the first Skills for Work Higher in Health and Social care.
To raise awareness of Skills for Work courses, a DVD featuring experiences of those participating in the pilot programme, has been produced. Copies of the DVD have also been sent out to schools and other partners across Scotland via Directors of Education, FE college principals and headteachers of independent schools.
If you require any further copies of the DVD, please contact June Letham on 0131 244 0069 or by e-mail at June.Letham@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
For more information visit the Skills for Work section on the SQA website.
You can also find out more about the strategy for school-college partnerships in the publication
Lifelong Partners.