How to meet Provider Access Legislation: a guide for teachers

In this guide we explain what Provider Access Legislation is, why it’s important, and how Unifrog can help you meet its requirements.

What is Provider Access Legislation (PAL)?

PAL, the latest evolution of the Baker Clause, is a requirement for state schools in England. It stipulates that schools must give access to colleges and training providers to advise their students in Years 8-13 about non-traditional academic routes, like T levels and apprenticeships.

This means your school must do two key things:

• Provide access – for this, you’ll need to create a ‘provider access policy statement’ setting out how training providers can visit the school and request access, and this should be published on your website. 
   
• Facilitate six encounters with training providers, which should happen at specific times:
  
  
  • Two between 1st September in Year 8 and 28 February in Year 9 (mandatory for all students to attend)
     
  • Two between 1st September in Year 10 and and 28th February in Year 11 (mandatory for all students to attend)
     
  • Two between 1st September in Year 12 and 28th February in Year 13 (not mandatory for all students to attend)
     

Why is it important?

Ofsted have tightened up their focus on careers provision and inspectors are now obliged to report any school falling short of the PAL requirements. 

By complying with it, depending on the range of options you provide, you’ll also be going some way towards meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks. In particular, it will help you meet:

• Benchmark 5: Encounters with employees and employers
   
• Benchmark 6: Experiences with workplaces
   
• Benchmark 7: Encounters with further and higher education
   

How can Unifrog help?

Unifrog makes it easy to inform your students of all their options, to keep track of what CEIAG interactions students have had, and to make connections with vocational education providers that are local to you.
 

1. Informing students

Students can take personality, work environment and interest quizzes which open students' eyes to the full range of post 16 and post 18 opportunities.

Then, using Unifrog’s Know-how library and Careers library, students can find information on non-academic pathways - like apprenticeships and vocational training at Further Education colleges. There’s also information on work placements and gap years. The information is brought to life by videos, and there's also lots of LMI.

Next, students can compare all their options on Unifrog, because the platform has the UK's biggest database of post-16 and post-18 opportunities is the biggest in the UK. 

Once students have some idea of what options they are interested in, they can have their burning questions answered by experts because Unifrog hosts webinars to advise students on things like applying for colleges and apprenticeships, perfecting their CV, and doing well in interviews.

We spoke to David Rudd, careers lead at Claremont High School, to see how he's finding using Unifrog to meet the PAL.

David said: “When our careers adviser first meets with a student, he uses Unifrog’s Personality profile to get them to start thinking about the things they enjoy. Their results then provide recommended Careers library profiles, which they look at together. These give students live suggestions for apprenticeship, training, and further education opportunities on Unifrog which they might want to explore further.”  

2. Keep track

Using Unifrog’s Interactions tool, you can keep track of any interactions students have had relating to non-academic pathways.

After you've logged in interaction it will appear within Charts on the teacher side, which are interactive visual representations of everything that's happened on Unifrog. You can filter Charts by things like year group and students' characteristics, so you can keep on top of what interactions different sorts of students have had.

You can also tag interactions against Gatsby benchmarks, allowing you to record how you are progressing towards meeting all the Benchmarks.

“For me, the Interactions tool on Unifrog is the biggest help when it comes to tracking how our school meets the PAL,” David Rudd, careers lead at Claremont High School

3. Make connections

In order to meet the requirements of the PAL, you’ll need to set up meaningful interactions between your students and both employers offering apprenticeships, and training providers like Further Education colleges. 

If you log in as a student, you can use Unifrog’s Apprenticeships tool and College / Sixth Form tool to see what opportunities are local to you, and then get in touch with the relevant employers and education providers, to invite them in to speak.

You’ll then be able to organise events at your school or in person to facilitate meaningful encounters, in line with the PAL requirements. If they cannot be conducted in-person, virtual interactions are an option. 

Unifrog also helps your students prepare for the encounters you put on. Our Know-how library guides simplify topics like apprenticeship levels and college qualifications, and our Resources library has tools like careers fair worksheets so students can make the most of these opportunities.
 

Pro tip: A quick and easy way to meet Gatsby Benchmarks relating to the PAL 

A standout Unifrog feature you can use to do all of the above is shortlisting. You’ll find Unifrog’s shortlisting tools under ‘Searching for opportunities’ on your student homepage.

Shortlisting tools allow students to search for degrees, apprenticeships, and college / FE courses around the world, all in one place. The more Shortlists a student saves, the more relevant the events and opportunities will be that appear in the ‘What’s coming up’ feed on their homepage. Unifrog’s Apprenticeships tool and College / Sixth Form tool in particular helps students make connections with workplaces and FE providers in their local area.

For more information on how Unifrog can help you comply with the PAL, or for more ideas to improve your CEIAG provision, request a demo or contact your Area or Account Manager.