Case Study for Occupational Studies

Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) provides young people within key stage 4 who have been identified with social, behavioural, emotional and wellbeing needs a pathway through which they can receive nurture, academic and therapeutic support to address their personal needs, overcome barriers to learning and maximise opportunities to move into further education or employment.

Preparation for employment, otherwise known as Occupational Studies, is an important aspect of the key stage 4 curriculum and it is recognised that young people within EOTAS should be able to benefit from the same opportunities as pupils within mainstream post primary schools. This contract is key to delivering the EA strategic priority of Meeting the Learning needs of our young people.

Given the nature of the difficulties and the challenges faced in their previous schools the majority of our young people cannot attend this opportunity in their mainstream school.  

This case study demonstrates consideration and compliance to PPN 02/21 Procurement of Social and Other Specific Services.

Various pathways were considered within the Business Case and the recommendation was made to outsource the provision of Occupational Studies to a vocational training organisation in order to provide our young people with the opportunity to complete a course in Occupational Studies within their designated EOTAS centre.

The Behavioural Support Service identified 10 EOTAS centres for participation, with the requirement to commence in the academic year 22/23.

As the scope of this procurement was Educational Services the requirements of PPN 02/21 Procurement of Social and Other Specific Services applied.  A detailed assessment of the market indicated that there were a limited number of local social enterprise organisations who could potentially meet the requirements. To ensure that there was competition, a strategic decision was made not to reserve this contract.

In order to further test the market, a tender exercise was conducted in line with PPN 021/21 Procurement of Social and Other Specific Services subject to the provisions of section 7, Regulation 74-77 of the Public Contracts Regulations otherwise known as the “Light Touch Regime”

Following the evaluation of tender responses in line with the published award criteria, an award was made to NOW Group Ltd.  NOW Group Ltd are a social enterprise organisation based in Belfast who provide a range of services that support people experiencing barriers to employment and learning.   

The NOW Group currently deliver occupational studies courses in Catering, Beauty, Digital Media, Horticulture, Warehousing and Childcare.  This partnership with the NOW Group ensures that our young people within the EOTAS centres have the opportunity to achieve NVQ Level 2 qualifications.  Ensuring that this service is delivered in this way to our young people offers them a greater opportunity to access further education college courses, apprenticeship schemes and employment and delivery of the EA’s strategic objective of meeting the learning needs of our young people. Importantly it also demonstrates how the EA contributes to supporting the social economy.