Sandwell College and WMCA - Accreditation Standards for youth-ready employers
Sandwell College (Nargis Boltan and Angela Tombs) have played a crucial role in supporting work towards developing the Accreditation Standards for youth-ready employers, by hosting a workshop with employers and young people on 4th November 2025, with support from YCA/ WMCA and University of Birmingham.
We now plan a second workshop in February 2025 to finalise and agree next steps on options for piloting and implementation.
The first workshop focused on identifying what makes a workplace truly youth-friendly, especially for work experience placements. Young people led the event, sharing lived experiences and shaping priorities through intergenerational dialogues with employers. The event was grounded in the principles of creative collaboration, inclusive participation, and practical co-design.
Key Priorities
Participants were asked to discuss and prioritise from a list bringing together proposals to improve access to equitable work experience, as emerged through the INSPIRE project and the YCA Youth Summit.
Full list of proposals:
Better access to opportunities
Accessibility for disabled young people
Employers being connected with schools
Outreach in schools/ stronger community connections
Working with a wide range of age groups
Co- produce work experience offer with young people
Offer diverse career pathways access, including to creative and culture cultural industries
Soft skills development
Practical hands-on placements
Transport support
Accessible recruitment process
Support for neurodiverse young people
Ensure emotional safety in the workplace
Provide employability coaches/ mentors/ people that can support them and advocate for them
Agree the work experience placement with the young person at the start and tailor it to their needs/ resources
We split into three groups, each with a mix of young participants and employers. We identified priorities, later refined to six core themes:
Safe Environment
Accessibility for Disabled and Neurodiverse Young People
Cultural Awareness
Transport Support
Employers and schools working better together
Hands-on placements
These were explored in depth, with young people proposing specific actions for each priority, in dialogue with employers.
1. Safe Environment
Young people emphasised the importance of emotional safety and respectful, inclusive workplaces. Key actions included:
Assigning mentors and support contacts during the placement
Providing feedback tools and wellbeing resources (e.g. posters, QR codes, apps)
Ensuring confidential disclosure mechanisms
Creating work experience packs with key contacts and guidance
2. Accessibility for Disabled and Neurodiverse Young People
Accessibility was seen as essential to equity. Actions included:
Offering tailored reasonable adjustments
Simplifying application and interview processes
Training staff on neurodiversity and inclusive recruitment
Co-producing programmes with young people with disabilities
Providing supported internships and flexible scheduling
Ensuring non-judgmental environments and visible role models
3. Cultural Awareness
Young people called for workplaces that genuinely embrace diversity and foster cultural understanding, without using inclusion as a superficial gesture to maintain business as usual. Actions included:
Promoting shared values and equality
Creating anonymous and one-to-one spaces for disclosure
Encouraging open dialogue about cultural differences
Reflecting cultural awareness in recruitment processes
Recognising and celebrating diverse backgrounds
4. Transport Support
Transport was identified as a major barrier. Actions included:
Reimbursing travel costs
Supporting safe and accessible travel options
Educating employers on young people’s transport needs
5. Employers working better with Schools
Strong employer-school partnerships were seen as vital for early engagement and continuity. Actions included:
Regular employer visits to schools and youth centres
Career fairs in the school/ community with real opportunities and follow-up
Clearer communication channels between schools and employers to support young people better as they navigate existing offers
Tailored support from an employability coach in the school to support applications for work experience, particularly for very competitive placements such as in the NHS
Co-designed outreach programmes with youth input
Sharing real-life career journeys and pathways with students in their school
6. Hands-On Placements
Young people want placements that reflect real work, not token tasks. Actions included:
Exposure to different sectors and roles
Pre-placement preparation and orientation, with tasks agreed with and tailored to young people’s needs
Clear role expectations and structured tasks
Opportunities to shadow professionals to gain meaningful understanding of what a particular role entails
Post-placement support to navigate next steps
It would be good to add a list of organisations in appendix