Details of the team’s new email addresses will be circulated in due course. However, please note that our VT plc addresses will continue to operate during the transition period.

At the end of a busy year, VT Research moved from Harrogate to our new office in central York. Now well ensconced in our new home, we are in a better position than ever to serve our clients across England from York and from our satellite office in Milton Keynes.

Our new head office address:

This evaluation programme saw VT Research undertake desk research to produce a literature review which formed a baseline of best practice and detailed secondary analysis of project documentation and management information to assess the quantitative and qualitative outcomes of projects. Stakeholder and provider consultations were also undertaken, and focus groups with learners conducted to obtain breadth and depth of evidence for the evaluation.

VT Research organised and managed a successful full day dissemination event for 100 delegates, at which the key evaluation findings were presented and the report was launched. Other speakers were drawn from the LSC, providers involved in the E&D projects, and other organisations supporting the FE sector (including LSIS and the Association of College in the Eastern Region).

Using the team’s expertise and results of Best Practice Reviews, VT Research is providing ongoing feedback and consultancy to the clients.

VT Research welcomes the opportunity to contribute to this important and far-reaching area of work.

Babcock Research has just launched this year’s Planning for the Future survey to more schools and Local Authorities across England than ever before. Now in its sixth year, the survey gives students a voice about their experiences of careers-based learning and work experience and assesses student responses against IAG quality standards, so that schools and LAs can continue to build their careers activities based on student feedback. This year too, Babcock Research is planning to launch a new post-16 Planning for the Future survey, giving sixth form and college students a voice about their career-based learning and gathering information about their aspirations for the future, whether these be to enter higher education, or to enter the labour market. Every school/FE and area (e.g. Local Authority) is benchmarked against the standards and compared to the nationwide results. 

“In difficult economic conditions and prior to the raising of the participation age, it is even more vital that schools and colleges are proactive in gathering their learners’ views and in understanding their students’ experiences and needs relating to further learning, work and careers,” comments Donna James, Director of Babcock Research. “Getting careers-based learning and work experience right, is key to getting closer to making the idea of ‘success for all’ a reality.”

 For more details contact vt.research@vtplc.com