Why it's never too early for careers education

High-quality careers education at primary school level can be transformative for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. With fewer chances to access guidance than their more advantaged peers, they face a stark destinations gap.

Two thirds of primary school teachers believe that careers learning will raise pupils’ aspirations. Together with your school, we believe we can turn things around and give every child a fighting chance at a successful and fulfilling career path.

Our manifesto recommends a framework for effective careers learning in primary schools based on the Gatsby Career Benchmarks. Our follow-up report Rethinking Careers Education proposes a series of policy recommendations to boost the effectiveness of careers education.

We welcomed the government’s announcement in the Schools White Paper Opportunity for all that it will be enacting our recommendation by launching a “careers programme for primary schools in areas of disadvantage”.

Join our Primary Careers programme

We’ve partnered with The Careers & Enterprise Company to deliver a Primary Careers programme. This creatively embeds primary school careers education in the curriculum. We'll deliver a series of six modules, as part of their fully-funded programme:

• provide CPD and resources to primary staff
• facilitate structured engagement between employers and pupils
• increase parental engagement in supporting children to think about their future.

Evidence shows that children start to form ideas about their future as they start primary school. By linking lessons in an age-appropriate way to different careers, training and skills, the programme:

• broadens aspirations
• challenges gendered stereotypes about particular careers
• boosts self-confidence
• inspires pupils about the world of work.

Interested?

Learn more about the Primary Careers programme by contacting primaryeducation@careersandenterprise.co.uk. 

With great careers guidance comes great results

It’s an unfortunate fact that too many young people from low-income backgrounds aren’t fulfilling their potential at school. The stats speak for themselves:

• 1 in 3 (33%) poorer young people are not in sustained work or education 5 years after GCSEs, compared to 1 in 7 (14%) of their wealthier peers
• young people from disadvantaged background (13%) are almost twice as likely to drop out of their A-Level course compared to non-disadvantaged peers (7%)
• disadvantaged pupils are more likely to end up out of sustained work or education (33%) than they are to go to university (27%).

This isn’t fair.

We know that with great careers guidance comes great careers decision-making for students. In schools that serve disadvantaged areas, evidence shows that with each Gatsby Benchmark achieved, there has been an increase of EET (Education, Employment and Training) outcomes.

Let’s work together to make sure all young people leave school with the skills and confidence to help them navigate the world of work.

Join our Careers Leader programme

Our Careers Leader programme equips secondary school careers leaders with the expertise they need to help students achieve their goals. They will make progress towards achieving all eight Gatsby benchmarks and build leadership skills to design a careers strategy with whole-school impact.

Since 2018, we’ve been a Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) approved careers training provider. With this partnership, along with our corporate supporters, we offer the programme at no cost to eligible schools. 

Over the 34-week programme, we work with the careers leader through a combination of:

• one-to-one support with a Teach First Careers Expert
• face-to-face delivery at our national conferences
• online seminars and modules.

The programme is based on the latest research and our support is tailored to suit your school’s needs.

Interested?

Enquire now

Careers education resources

Good careers education can empower positive change for the young people in our schools. With support from our corporate partners, we’ve built a roster of free careers resources to share with teachers, so all students can access the latest work opportunities and teachers can gain up-to-date careers knowledge and ideas.

Our resources include our business directory, home to exclusive work opportunities with our partners. Teachers can use this document to inform their pupils on a range of career opportunities in different regions and career sectors, such as technology, law and finance.

Alongside our directory, we offer recordings of our leadership and knowledge masterclasses, so teachers can enhance their careers and leadership skills. We also provide a Post-School Success Kit, designed to help teachers support their students to make those important decisions after school.

Access our careers resources

Work Experience programme

The Teach First Work Experience Programme gives pupils from schools in disadvantaged communities unforgettable opportunities to spend a week with some of the country’s most exciting companies.

By taking part, pupils will benefit by:

• developing important professional skills for the modern workplace
• building employability and soft skills – such as communication, teamwork, confidence and time management – through project work and a variety of other working styles
• developing awareness and understanding of the world of work and different career options
• being paid a stipend if they successfully complete the week.

Companies will give pupils the chance to experience their industry and give an insight into the workplace, either virtually or in-person.

Browse our work experience opportunities