GMYCA: Shaping the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate
Case study overview
The Greater Manchester Youth Combined Authority (GMYCA) brings together young people from all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester. It gives them opportunities to advise and scrutinise the Mayor and Greater Manchester Combined Authority on policies and decisions that affect their lives. GMYCA has contributed to initiatives including Our Pass and Greater Manchester’s Green Summits. This case study focuses on how it helped shape the Manchester Baccalaureate (MBacc), bringing young people’s experiences into discussions about education and routes into employment.
How it worked
GMYCA members serve two-year terms and meet monthly in central Manchester. Around 20–25 young people typically attend each meeting.
Members have significant control over how organisations work with them. Anyone wishing to involve GMYCA must submit a request based on the Lundy Model of Participation. Young people review and approve these requests themselves, helping ensure that each activity has a clear purpose and that members know how their contributions will be used.
Between 2023 and 2025, Greater Manchester Combined Authority staff worked with GMYCA members on the development of the MBacc. Staff first introduced the programme’s vision, policy context and plans for involving young people.
Members then examined the routes into employment available to young people leaving education. They identified gaps, discussed what needed to change and developed their own recommendations.
Impact
GMYCA brought its findings together in a report titled Greater Manchester Baccalaureate: Young People’s Perspective, which set out three key asks from young people.
Feedback from members suggests the process of producing the report helped members develop critical-thinking skills as they assessed existing routes into employment and identified where additional support was needed. They also gained a better understanding of how policy is developed and put into practice.
GMYCA members presented the report themselves at the MBacc Summit in July 2024. The Mayor of Greater Manchester praised their involvement, and members had the opportunity to speak directly to the people responsible for taking the work forward.
The report and summit also established an ongoing route for future GMYCA members to remain involved in the MBacc’s development.
Key strengths
Young people understood from the outset why they were being involved and how their work could inform the MBacc. This gave the project a clear purpose and helped members see the value of their contribution.
Meeting decision-makers in person increased accountability and allowed young people to present their recommendations directly rather than relying on someone else to speak for them.
The final report used young people’s own words and recommendations. This strengthened their ownership of the work and ensured their views were represented accurately.
Key learning
- Use a clear participation model (such as the Lundy Model) from the beginning so young people have the information, support and space they need to contribute.
- Explain why young people are being involved, how their views will be used and what influence they can realistically have.
- Give young people control over whether and how organisations engage with them.
- Create opportunities for young people to present their own recommendations directly to decision-makers.
- Establish a route for future groups to continue the work rather than treating engagement as a one-off exercise.