Careers education resources
Explore our range of free careers resources for schools. Enhance your provision and help your students discover new career paths.
Supporting young people to make those all-important career choices has never been more important. The Department for Education has released the latest numbers on those not in education, employment, or training (NEET) for 16 to 18-year-olds in England.
The overall 16 to 18 NEET rate decreased in 2023 by 0.4 percentage points to 8.0%, down from 8.4% in 2022. For 18 year olds, the NEET rate fell to 14.0%, a 1.6 percentage point decrease, though it remains one of the highest rates since 2012.
These figures highlight the ongoing need to provide young people with the guidance and resources they need to succeed after school.
Access our business directory
By offering young people connections to the world of work, their career readiness increases and aspirations soar. As little as four interactions with an employer reduces a pupil’s chance of being NEET (not in education, employment or training) by 25% once they’ve left school.
Our business directory is an extensive document that hosts free resources, work experience placements, apprenticeships and grad schemes from some of the UK’s leading businesses.
If you have any questions about the listed opportunities and would like to find out more, please email studentenrichment@teachfirst.org.uk.
Use our post-school success toolkit
Give your school’s careers education an extra boost by downloading our free post-school success toolkit. Designed for teachers, the toolkit will help you understand what requirements are needed to support your students and help them reach their potential.
Take part in our work experience programme
Our work experience programme connects students from disadvantaged backgrounds to lifechanging opportunities. Career paths that seem distant are now a reality as students will get the chance to experience the world of work.
We’re working with the UK’s leading companies to offer valuable work experience placements to pupils nationwide, throughout the year.
We offer in-person work experience and virtual placements.
Companies will give pupils the chance to experience their industry and give an insight into the digital workplace.
For any questions and to subscribe to our latest updates, email workexperience@teachfirst.org.uk.
Careers Leaders programme
Young people from low-income backgrounds are far less likely to have friends and family who can guide them on getting into higher paid professions. Careers leaders make a huge difference in supporting their student’s future and helping them navigate their post-school decisions.
We understand that a personalised approach is needed when it comes to your school’s careers education. By joining our fully-funded Careers Leader programme, we support your nominated careers leader to help your school:
- create a careers strategy with a whole-school impact
- build evidence towards the Quality in Careers Award
- progress towards all eight Gatsby Benchmarks
- grow your network with other schools and businesses.
Hear from the careers experts
Our videos feature working professionals from various industries in the UK. Share with your students to give them the knowledge and inspiration to explore new areas of work.
Anastasia Mikulaninec: Global Search Engine Optimisation at Burberry
Hi, I’m Anastasia and I work in Global Search Engine Optimisation (which is SEO) at Burberry. I’m going to tell you a bit about my role, what it’s like to work at Burberry and how I got here.
In Burberry, we believe that creativity opens spaces. Our purpose is an enduring shared belief in the power of creativity to open new possibilities for ourselves, our customers, and our communities. It is grounded in the words of our founded and represents everything that we stand for and strive towards.
Sneha Kadaba, Head of Creative at Drax
Hi, I’m Sneha and I work as the Head of Creative at Drax. Drax is a British energy company that operates in three core areas: power generation, biomass production and business energy supply. We’re based in multiple locations across the UK and have offices and pellet plants in the US!
My role sits within the marketing team. I’m responsible for running the creative studio, and my team consists of graphic designers and copywriters. We work with colleagues across Drax and create all kinds of exciting things – including brochures, adverts, posters, videos and more.
Read more about Sneha's role in her fact sheet (PDF).
Yuan Potts: TV Producer at Bloomberg
Hi, I'm Yuan and I work as a TV Producer at Bloomberg Television, the leading provider of financial news. The news channel broadcasts 24 hours a day all around the world. Between 6am and 12pm, the channel is broadcasted from the European headquarters in central London. There are around 4,000 people who work in the London office.
Holly Davies: Manufacturing Engineer at Rolls Royce
Hi, I’m Holly and I work as a Manufacturing Engineer at Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce makes systems that produce power, such as engines for planes, trains and nuclear submarines. It is based in Derby but has sites all over the world with over 50,000 employees worldwide.
Watch more virtual talks
Need more inspiration?
To access our full range of career talks and fact sheets, email our student enrichment team at studentenrichment@teachfirst.org.uk.
Leadership and knowledge masterclasses
Watch our leadership and knowledge masterclasses, delivered by experts from our corporate partners. These video masterclasses will enhance your leadership skills and offer you the latest knowledge on apprenticeships and green sector jobs.
- Apprenticeship masterclass panel – hosted by Lorna Williamson from ACCA, Jordan Denney from PwC, Magda Kostka and Veronica Philips from Accenture
- Green sector masterclass panel – hosted by Sam Greer from SSE and Charlotte Jacovou from Drax
- Leadership masterclass: Resilience – hosted by Sean Maywood from PwC