£4.7m work-placement boost

The 4.7 million Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC) project will place students with employers in a range of industries including energy and finance and, more unusually, the charity and voluntary sector over the next four years.

The project is designed to help make young people more employable by developing their business and communication skills. The majority of placements, 1,000, will be made available through the 1.1m Education Into Enterprise initiative led by Adam Smith College in Kirkcaldy, of which former prime minister Gordon Brown is Chancellor.

Students will be offered placements in small and medium-sized companies.

The E-Skills Placement Programme led by Edinburgh Napier University will place 750 students in IT companies.

The Third Sector Internship Programme will receive the highest amount of funding, up to 2m, which will provide 300 internships in the voluntary and charity sector.

And a further 500 students on postgraduate courses will be offered placements in the tourism and financial sectors, with some given the opportunity to complete a work-related rather than an academic dissertation.

SFC chairman John McClelland said: "There is great value in hands-on work experience.

"Understanding how businesses operate, their practices and cultures, and developing the right skills that are needed by employers, will give future graduates a better chance of being prepared for the world of work when they leave college or university.

"We know this also addresses an imperative that employers and employer organisations have identified."