Student Experiences of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme

150 ENGAGING YOUNG PEOPLE?students are similar to the lowest performing LCE/LCVP group in theindustrial and occupational sectors they enter. Significant genderdifferences exist amongst the LCA group, with the majority of malesemployed in industry and females predominantly working in thedistribution sector. Similarly, when looking at occupational sector, patternsdiffer strongly for males and females; with over 60 per cent of malesentering skilled or semi-skilled manual employment and over two-thirds offemale leavers employed in the services sector. These findings are notableconsidering the exceptional economic circumstances which the surveysspan, and the current difficulties facing particular sectors.9.2The SituationTodayThe report provides a valuable insight into the post-school transitions ofyoung people who participated in the LCA programme. In particular, theanalyses points to the channelling of LCA participants into the labourmarket upon leaving school, highlighting relatively low levels ofprogression to post-school education and training. Where such transitionsare made, they are highly gendered and confined to non-third level settings.Among labour market entrants, it is clear that difficulties are encounteredin making a smooth transition to the labour market, and labour marketentrants are confined to distinct sectors of the labour market. The ‘postschoolpathways’ analyses’ presented in this report are based on survey dataof young people leaving school over the 2001-2005 period, and qualitativeinterviews with young people who left school in 2004, examining theirexperiences up to the middle of 2008. This period was, for the most part,an era of exceptionally rapid economic growth and (almost) fullemployment. The situation has changed dramatically since then.Unemployment in general and youth unemployment in particular haverisen at an unprecedented rate, making new entrants to the labour marketextremely vulnerable. The position of school leavers from the LCAprogramme is likely to be particularly problematic today, given that thesegroups have been traditionally concentrated in the construction andservices sectors. Their low levels of post-school educational participationrelative to other LCE/LCVP school leavers are likely to leave them furtherexposed in the current climate. Economic changes are also likely to impacton the ability of current LCA participants to secure work experienceplacements and thereby gain the full benefits from participation in theprogramme.It should also be noted that recent budgetary changes have meant thatsupports for schools offering the LCA programme have been curtailed (seeChapter 1). Recent research (Smyth and McCoy, 2009) suggests that thesechanges are likely to impact on the capacity of schools to offer the LCAprogramme. At the time of writing (November 2009), the RenewedProgramme for Government had signalled the reintroduction of LCAcapitation grants as per September 2008. However, it remains too soon togain any understanding of potential changes in provision and take-up ofLCA.