Befitting a club whose manager, Steve Coppell, has a degree in Economic History, Reading FC have established a reputation for excellence in the field of education.

 

They are one of  the few clubs who do all of their education in-house.

 

Paul Bailey (pictured), is the club’s Education Officer, and says that the way in which they work at Reading has definitely changed over the years. “Sometimes people talk about the old YTS apprentice schemes and don’t realise just what the young players do these days. It’s a far cry from cleaning boots and making cups of tea!

 

“We start with the boys at the age of 16 when they arrive in June. Most clubs won’t start their boys on the programme until the education year begins in September – so our boys have a head start. If we need them to do extra training they can come out of their session because they are so far ahead with their studies. That also helps if there is a boy who wants to go out on a work experience loan – like when Alex Pearce went to Northampton Town last season.”

 

Paul adds that he is delighted with the results of Reading’s recent Ofsted inspection. “We’ve just had our yearly inspection and came out with a Grade 1 – the top grade. These days the boys are contracted to do a BTEC National Level 3 course – the equivalent of about four A levels. This is done during the two years they are with us trying to get their professional contracts.

 

“The boys’ working week is structured to tie in with their training as well as their education. They have one full day of college theory which is done in the 1871 Suite at the Madejski Stadium. We have a good teaching environment at the stadium with computers and interactive boards.

 

“As well as the day at the stadium, they also complete a day-to-day technical logbook which is used for their NVQs. On Mondays they complete a technical match analysis using the ProZone programme. It means they can evaluate their own performance against the first team players and see what they need to do to move onto that next level.

 

“So it has changed dramatically over the last few years. I’ve been teaching the scholars here for over nine years now. Five years ago the new course was brought in which tied everything in together – before that it was very disparate, with players doing courses all over the place at different times. That made it difficult to get everyone together for training.

 

“My reward is seeing the boys who don’t make the grade as footballers do well with their schooling. Last year, every single one of our boys completed their schooling. They can now go on to become a coach if it doesn’t work out for them as a player, as they all have the equivalent of four A levels behind them to set them up for a life away from football if necessary.”

 

Paul and his staff are also encouraged by the progress made by many of their youngsters. “We’ve had one of our former academy graduates, Peter Castle, who was our youngest-ever first team player at Reading. He is now doing his PE teaching qualifications on the back of what he did here. We have two other former scholars, Chris Davies and Matt Birnie, who went on to Loughborough University as well – so the system works and we have some good role models for the boys.”