Birmingham City Council's Commitment -Youth-Evaluated Career Support Programme

Birmingham City Council has committed to fund and implement:

Evaluation Training

• To equip young people with the skills and confidence to lead evaluations on career support throughout 2026, working with the council to improve equitable access to work experience.

• We have already organised a workshop (13 November 2025), facilitated by young people who participated in the INSPIRE project, and involving BCC, employers, and local youth groups. The workshop helped the young people and BCC refine and agree the details of the programme. The workshop was hosted by the local youth organisation, Dream Chaser Youth Club, who will be a partner in this follow up impact activity to support with recruitment of youth evaluators.

Training Activities

• Recruitment of 45–50 young people (16-25) from diverse backgrounds, prioritising those from marginalised groups who tend not to participate in traditional youth engagement activities.

• Two-day intensive training workshop led by BCC and INSPIRE young people, with support from NHS Birmingham and UoB researchers (with hybrid and video-recording options) to develop:

  • Evaluation and research skills;

  • Facilitation techniques;

  • Understanding of policy processes and career support systems

  • Mentoring and peer-led components to strengthen confidence and youth democratic capabilities.

• Young people will receive a stipend and travel support to remove barriers to participation.

 Evaluation Programme

This evaluation will generate youth-led evidence to inform Birmingham’s Employment and Skills Strategy.

Methods

• Youth evaluators will use co-designed scorecards and mixed methods (surveys, focus groups, video reflections) to assess access, quality, fairness, and impact of career services.

• Evaluations will cover schools, colleges, and public employment programmes.

• Findings will be synthesised through co-production workshops, ensuring young people co-author the evaluation report, which will inform the BCC’s youth employment strategy.

Outcomes

• Evidence-based and youth-led recommendations for improving equitable access to work experience.

• A scalable model for inclusive youth engagement and youth-led evaluation applicable to other policy areas.