Time spent preparing for work

The experiences of students at a Further Education College in inner-city London

Lee Humber

College courses for learning-disabled people are changing. From now on all courses have to include some work experience. Colleges are expected to help students find jobs - more so now than ever before.

In two years time FE colleges won't get any money from the Government unless they help students into work. This means a timetable has been put in place. Time-pressure has been put onto colleges - and onto students as well. But how prepared are students to face spending their time at work?

The Government expects learning-disabled students to learn to be able to go to work within a certain period of time. But what will happen if students need more time?

I interviewed some students from a college in north London about what they know about work, what time they have spent at work already and about how they see work fitting into the way they spend their time. I also looked at the history of how FE colleges have run courses in the past to see how it is different now.

I asked the students at college whether they thought learning about work and going to work was a good way of spending their time. I will tell you some of their opinions, but what do you think?