Talent Scotland Graduate Placement Programme: final review report (Business product review)

The primary aim of the Talent Scotland Graduate Placement Programme (TSGPP) is to aid businesses in identifying graduates with relevant skills to work on defined business development projects, delivering mutual benefits to both the company and the graduate. The review of the programme was commissioned in order to assess the programme in terms of: delivery against specification; and identifying potential for improvement of service and effectiveness of the programme.

The methodology consisted of: a review of documentation related to the programme, including its user guide; and a web-based survey of businesses using the programme to employ a graduate, to which 41 out of a potential 89 participants responded.

The report finds that overall, TSGPP is delivering against its objectives for business, is providing assistance to graduate recruitment, and is helping to remove some of the costs and barriers which prevent SMEs from recruiting graduates. It suggests that the programme is a valuable resource to businesses as it facilitates access to a pool of graduates and offers a streamlined selection process. The report highlights that graduates were found to have strong communication and ICT skills, and that eighty per cent were judged by their employer to have made a full or exceptional contribution to the business. It is noted that respondent employers demonstrated a more positive attitude towards new graduate recruitment, with 90 per cent stating that they would be more likely to do so in the future. Areas for improvement to the programme were identified in terms of management and administration, wider promotion and marketing, greater filtering of applications, and provision of interview training.

The report makes a number of recommendations, including that: SE should apply a full time resource to the management of the programme to October 2013; performance measures for business client service should be reviewed and enhanced where possible; there should be an assessment of the effects of the reduction in SE Placement Outcome Targets on the programme’s projected value for money; the graduate training scheme should be reviewed in order to ensure graduates are equipped with adequate workplace skills not provided during previous education; there should be a stated deadline date by which the training course must be attended by the graduate; and employers should be encouraged to think about quantification of the graduate’s contribution to their business.