Work Experience for Digital Jobs in Cornwall

Background

The Digital Skills Partnership’s mission is to connect private, public and third sector organisations to create the digital skills ecosystem that Cornwall’s future needs. The partnership harnesses the innovation in Cornwall to inspire our communities, transform educational landscapes, and create a sustainable digital economy where everyone thrives.

One of our four strategic priorities is to transform work experience in Cornwall and ensure every school leaver is aware of how digital can support their career.

Work Experience in the tech sector for Cornish students

This pilot aims to answer the following question in relation to tech careers:

“Can a week’s work experience change a young person’s mind about what’s possible for them in Cornwall?”

We are looking for a partner to deliver four work experience weeks in tech subsectors. Each week should involve a range of relevant local employers in its design and delivery.

The projects selected for each week should allow for students to experience a variety of roles and use a variety of skills for example project management, budgeting, communication, presenting and time management. They should feel as much like a ‘real life’ commercial project as possible.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As part of your proposal, we would like to hear how you will make sure you attract and engage a diverse range of candidates, and how you’ll support all learners during the programme. See here for guidance: Inclusion – CEC (careersandenterprise.co.uk)_

Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL)

As this is a pilot, we need to measure its success in order to iterate and grow in the future. The objective is to build a really strong evidence base for this kind of intervention being effective.

Budget

The DSP has a budget of up to £24,999 to include delivery of four work experience weeks and MEL activity.

Timeframe

The project should be completed by the end of July 2023

Invitation for proposals	22nd August 2022
Deadline for proposals	5pm on 30th September 2022
Contract awarded by	1st November 2022
Project plan report to DSP board	10th January 2023
Project completion	30th July 2023

Submitting your proposal

If you are interested in submitting a proposal, please send us not more than 2000 words outlining how you plan to deliver the project. Make sure you include:

• Your relevant experience
• Any partners you would work with either in delivery or in evaluation
• How you would approach MEL
• How you will ensure there are a diverse range of participants
• How you’ll adhere to relevant safeguarding and health & safety policy
• What the cost of the project would be
• An initial timeline of key delivery dates

Your proposal will be scored against the following criteria:

• Quality of proposal / likelihood to achieve outcomes (40%)
• Alignment to CIoS DSP values (20%)
• Value for money (20%)
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (10%)
• Sustainable practice (5%)
• Commitment to upskilling and workforce development as part of the delivery (5%)