With thousands of Scottish pupils awaiting their results next week before planning their future, the annual helpline from Skills Development Scotland will aim to guide youngsters onto rewarding career paths

 

EXPERT career guidance is on hand for the thousands of young people awaiting their SQA results next week.

Around 145,000 pupils across the country will have their National, Highers and Advanced Highers confirmed on Tuesday after receiving their provisional results earlier this summer. 

However, young people receiving their results in a second year of disruption due to Covid-19 may need more help than usual to gain advice on next steps and understand their choices for further learning or work. Therefore, Skills Development Scotland’s (SDS) Results Helpline will be on hand to help from 8am on results day.

The free helpline from Scotland’s career service offers information, advice and support for young people and their parents and carers.

Now in its 29th year, the helpline has put in place robust training and technology to ensure the team of over 50 expert advisers from around Scotland can provide the same high-quality level of service from home as when in their contact centre.

Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “The free helpline offers young people an excellent source of advice and guidance and I’d appeal to learners who have questions about their next steps to use this valuable resource. 

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“Whether it’s practical advice about options, or reassurance following SQA results, the advisers are ready to help.”

SDS’s Head of Career Information, Advice and Guidance Operations Sharon McIntyre said: “We know that receiving results has been a very different experience for young people and their parents and carers this year. 

“It’s important to reassure them that whatever their confirmed results are, our advisers are there to provide support and expert advice on their options.Months of change and uncertainty have meant some young people may be feeling more anxious than normal about their results. 

“Helpline advisers can share contact details of organisations across Scotland who can offer young people help and support for mental health and well-being issues.”

Sharon added: “This has been a year like no other for young people and it is important to recognise those challenges and to reassure them that there are still options and opportunities for them. It’s equally important to let them know that whatever their results might be, our advice – as always – is don’t panic and we can help.

“There can often be a sense of urgency and need to rush a decision but with so many options available to both those continuing in or leaving education, it is important that young people take time to process their emotions and think about what they want to do next.

“There is no one single path so whether a young person did or didn’t get the results they had hoped for, there are different routes available towards the career they want.

“On the Result Helpline or through our online My World of Work service, we can guide and advise young people and their parents and carers on next steps including vacancies at UK universities and colleges, Clearing, Modern, Foundation and Graduate apprenticeships, jobs and volunteering. 

“We even have tools to help young people discover which types of jobs might suit them and their strengths.”

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Not all calls to the helpline are from pupils and students. 

Around 40 per cent of calls each year come from parents and carers using the service to find out how best support their child during what can be both an exciting and daunting time. 

Through a dedicated parent and carers section on My World of Work, SDS provides advice and toolkits for talking to your child about their future and helping them find the job they want.

  • The Results Helpline number is 0808 100 8000 and will be open on August 10 and 11 from 8am to 8pm, August 12 and 13 from 9am-5pm and August 16 to 18 from 9am-5pm.
     
  • Results information and advice is also available on Scotland’s careers website, My World of Work at myworldofwork.co.uk which has practical help and links to UCAS, SAAS, Young Scot and the SQA.
     
  • The SDS Helpline advisers will also be available on social media, by direct message to My World of Work on Facebook at facebook.com/myworldofwork or Instagram at @mywowscotland Apprenschool now offers Construction Foundation Apprenticeships at both levels. We work with Forth Valley College to provide 18 fourth year pupils with a qualification at Level 4 and the school delivers the Level 5 Foundation Apprenticeship in-house to 20 senior phase pupils. 

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Island distillery in spirited effort to grow skills base

ISLE of Raasay Distillery has grown rapidly since it started trading in 2015, and by the end of 2020, its inaugural Single Malt had sold out before it was even bottled.

The speed of the expansion has meant a greater focus on supporting training, staff development and workplace innovation.  

That’s why the Distillery turned to Skills Development Scotland (SDS) for independent expert skills analysis through its Skills for Growth programme.  

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MD and co-founder of Isle of Raasay Distillery Alasdair Day, and operations director Norman Gillies are benefitting from SDS’ Skills for Growth programme

 

The fully funded service – delivered in partnership with specialist consultants – helps small and medium-sized employers adapt to change and understand their skills needs. 

Alasdair Day, Co-founder and Managing Director at Isle of Raasay Distillery, said: “We recognised there were a number of areas which needed our attention around staffing and skills.  

“Through our close connections with Highlands and Islands Enterprise, we found out about Skills for Growth.” 

The Distillery benefitted from a dedicated SDS Adviser and specialist consultant from Remarkable who carried out a skills review and developed a tailored action plan for 
the business.  

Alasdair added: “The Action Plan has been hugely beneficial and identified a number of areas for development, such as in HR, internal communication and a plan to start introducing apprenticeships into the business. 

“One of the recommendations was to explore recruiting HR students to help develop our practices, such as a staff handbook and appraisal process. Working with an organisation called Interface, two funded placements will start this month.”

The distillery, which also comprises holiday accommodation and a visitors’ centre, has a workforce of 20, almost all of whom live on the island – and who fed into the Skills for Growth process.  

Alasdair explained: “The feedback from colleagues has been invaluable and really helped shape our next steps.

“It was particularly encouraging to hear how much the team has bought into the idea of not only being individual ambassadors of the distillery, but also the island.”  

The business also received advice on workforce planning and leadership development. 

SDS Employer Engagement Adviser, Michelle Denoon, guided Isle of Raasay through the process and has provided ongoing support to the business.  

She said: “Running any rapidly growing small business means you are immersed in dealing with the day-to-day – not to mention the effects of a pandemic.    

“Skills for Growth has allowed Alasdair and the team to take a strategic approach by addressing the skills required for now and into the future, but also offer the business practical solutions.” 

As an ambitious young business, the Distillery appreciated the level of professional support from SDS and Remarkable.  Alasdair added: “We found Skills for Growth useful because of the stage this business is at and as we scale things up and to deal with key business development priorities in a very cost-effective way.

“To have the external analysis of the business coupled with a tailored action plan is really helpful.  

“But not only that – we have received ongoing information and guidance on the support available to implement these.”