The Provider Access Legislation (PAL) mandates schools to provide all learners with a minimum of two encounters with approved providers of apprenticeships and technical education in Key Stage 3, and two encounters in Key Stage 4. Additionally, schools must have offered two encounters to learners in Key Stage 5, but it is optional for learners to attend.
We are keen to support schools and providers to meet and evidence this updated requirement meaningfully as part of a wider progressive careers programme. It’s important to note that there are specific deadlines within the academic year for recording PAL activities.
February 28th is the deadline for learners in Year 9, Year 11 and Year 13 to have had at least two encounters with approved providers of apprenticeships and technical education during that particular Key Stage. The February deadline for PAL compliance is to ensure that learners have ample time to receive an appropriate encounter and consider their next steps for transition (see table below).
| Key stage/key phase | Number of encounters | Transition point being supported by encounters |
Reporting periods |
|
‘First key phase’ Key stage 3 (year 8 & 9) |
2 | Learners considering GCSE option choices | 1st Sept Year 8 – 28th Feb Year 9 |
|
‘Second key phase’ Key stage 4 (year 10 & 11) |
2 | Learners considering Post 16 options | 1st Sept Year 10 – 28th Feb Year 11 |
|
‘Third key phase’ Key stage 5 (year 12 & 13) |
2 | Learners considering Post 18 options | 1st Sept Year 12 – 28th Feb Year 13 |
NB: PAL encounters can continue beyond February 28th for years 8, 10, and 12. PAL is applicable throughout the year, not just between September and February.
To ensure PAL compliance is regularly monitored and support needs are managed effectively, we have made some updates within the Compass evaluation section for Gatsby Benchmark 7. In your Spring Compass evaluation, you are encouraged to ensure that you are relating all relevant activities (whether recorded on Compass + or not) when answering the PAL questions in the evaluation.
PAL questions within the Compass evaluation.
In the Educational Encounters Benchmark 7 section of the Compass evaluation, we have added specific questions about PAL that allow schools to record and evidence compliance against the Provider Access Legislation. Please note, the answers to these questions do not contribute towards your Benchmark 7 Compass evaluation score.
From February 29th 2024, we are adding three additional PAL questions to Compass evaluations. The rationale for these changes, and the additional questions, is outlined below.
What is staying the same:
- PAL questions remain unscored – they do not count towards Benchmark 7
- We will report externally only at an aggregated level – not on specific institutions.
Rationale for these changes:
- The original questions will remain to track current/planned activity. We are adding the additional questions to allow us to accurately report on how many of those who complete each key phase have had these encounters
- Currently, Careers Leaders will complete Compass when learners are mid ‘key phase’. As learners move through year groups the cohort will be refreshed with a new year group who have not yet had encounters. This makes it hard to assess the actual level of learners who have received an encounter. For example, a Year 8 learner in December that has not had any encounters yet vs a Year 9 learner in December that has had two encounters
- Therefore, we are adding an additional set of questions on the same principle but asking you to complete for those learners who have most recently completed a key phase to allow us to get an accurate picture of overall compliance, and for you to demonstrate that you have met PAL requirements as an institution
- You should bear in mind that the end of a key phase is not the end of the academic year but the 28th February. This is to ensure learners have information about the full range of pathways ahead of making their choices for the next key phase.
For reference, the additional PAL questions added Feb 2024:
- What proportion of learners of the year group who most recently completed the ‘first key phase’ as defined in the updated Provider Access Legislation (period covering 1st September in Year 8 to 28th February in Year 9) had at least two encounters that met the requirements of PAL within that key phase?
- What proportion of learners of the year group who most recently completed the ‘second key phase’ as defined in the updated Provider Access Legislation (period covering 1st September in Year 10 to 28th February in Year 11) had at least two encounters that met the requirements of PAL within that key phase?
- What proportion of learners of the year group who most recently completed the ‘third key phase’ as defined in the updated Provider Access Legislation (period covering 1st September in Year 12 to 28th February in Year 13) were offered at least two encounters that met the requirements of PAL within that key phase?
For reference, the original PAL questions pre-Feb 2024:
- What proportion of learners in Year 8/9 have had at least two meaningful encounters with providers of apprenticeships and technical education during KS3 phase that meet the requirements of PAL?
- What proportion of learners in Year 10/11 have had at least two meaningful encounters with providers of apprenticeships and technical education during KS4 phase that meet the requirements of PAL?
- What proportion of learners in Year 12/13 have been offered at least two meaningful encounters with providers of apprenticeships and technical education during KS5 that meet the requirements of PAL?
- What proportion of learners in Year 12/13 have attended at least two meaningful encounters with providers of apprenticeships and technical education during KS5 that meet the requirements of PAL?
(Please note that the Year 12/13 questions look similar but one is asking about PAL encounters that have been offered, and the other is asking about PAL encounters that have been attended)
Answer options for these questions are:
None (0%)
A few (1-25%)
Some (26-50%)
Most (51-75%)
Overwhelming majority (76-90%)
All or nearly all (91-100%)
It’s very important to highlight that PAL applies to all learners, as such the final option ‘All or nearly all’ is the only option deemed to be compliant with PAL, other responses are not.
For more information about PAL in SEND settings, please refer to our Help Centre article The Provider Access Legislation (PAL) in SEND Settings.
A further unscored question has been added at the end of the Employer Encounter section of the evaluation. The answer box is free text, users should use this box to list the providers of eligible PAL encounters.
The PAL questions you will be asked are tailored to your institution’s details. For example, schools without a sixth-form will only be asked about the Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 questions and Colleges will only be asked about Key Stage 5 / Post 18.
Recording PAL activities in Compass+.
When creating a new Benchmark 7 activity, we have included a checkbox for you to confirm that the activity is eligible to be recorded as an encounter that meets PAL requirements.
As PAL is only applicable to GB7, the check box will only appear if you allocate GB7 to the main benchmark. You'll need to do this first, and then the PAL check box will appear.For an activity to be eligible, and recorded as PAL complaint, the provider must deliver an encounter that includes:
- Information about the provider and the approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships that the provider offers
- Information about the careers to which those technical education qualifications or apprenticeships might lead to
- A description of what learning or training with the provider is like
- Responses to questions from the learners about the provider or approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.
The encounter must also meet all of the other conditions outlined from page 43 in the Provider Access Legislation statutory guidance.
Read our Provider access legislation Key information to find out more about PAL eligibility.
PAL data and reporting
- We will not share institutional level data, this also includes any employer information entered into the free text box, when users are recording PAL activities.
- Enterprise Co-ordinators and Hub Leads will review data via EANR to identify where additional support may be required
- We will use aggregated data to report on PAL compliance at Hub, Regional and National level.