We’re in a perfect storm. On one side of the skills story we have companies screaming out for talent and telling us they value work experience over university qualifications. On the other, the percentage of students accessing quality work experience is dismally low and disproportionately made up of young people from wealthier families.
Despite the challenges of improving youth employability, there are businesses and companies and all sizes in the UK doing their bit to prepare young people for the world of work.
The following case studies represent a range of work experience placements that businesses up and down the UK are offering and demonstrates what meaningful placements look like. If you're interested to have your company included, please email marketing@founders4schools.org.uk for more information. Thanks!
To support young people, Bruntwood became an active part of The Trafford College T-Level pilot, by offering work experience.
A summer placement for year 12 students at PwC proves a valuable insight into a professional services employer with an important purpose.
With 6.5 m Facebook followers, TryLife extended its reach with a work experience programme that grew from 4 to 39 students in just a year.
As well as giving children a love for literature, Seven Stories has found innovative ways to create meaningful work experience.
Click the video link to see how Rachael had a unique opportunity to gain a variety of skills in a 3-month placement, with support from founder Michelle.
Pioneering scheme encourages diversity within the legal profession through programmes which include opportunities to shadow staff.
Specialist hire company Andrews Sykes has become a patron to CACT, helping young people secure placements and interview training.
Structured programmes help start-ups connect with enterprising young people, who even had an opportunity to design for Workfinder!
MD Tracey Dawson explains how placements help Daletech to up-skill future engineers, future-proof their business and build a talent pipeline
Smart Futures, a programme from the EY Foundation, helped Milly and Qasim secure roles they couldn’t have imagined themselves taking.
LightOx has a growing team developing pharmaceuticals and life probes for treatment and diagnosis of cancers. Placements can be days up to a few months.
Two-week programme exposes nominated London school children to a multi-faceted career in insurance, with project-based work spanning range of activities
Interested in the creative industries? TICE offers students in the North East a range of hands-on insights into the creative, design and digital
Week-long placements for 15-18 year-olds match emerging talent with around 3000 live vacancies to support the growth of local SME’s.
Award-winning chocolatier Auberge Du Chocolat shows how expanding work experiences for keen young people, with sweet rewards all-round.
Through local collaboration, Cambridge LaunchPad shows how they have been helping local young people discover their STEM-based careers, since 2015.
Saggezza, a Sunderland-based IT consultancy, has created a programme in the HR department to support Rahat’s T-Level studies
Trend Bible, a Newcastle-based consultancy predicting future trends to help top brands stay ahead, knows the value of great work experience..
Saggezza, whose name means wisdom or insight, created a bespoke programme to give Ellie an insight into successful IT consultancy
It’s all in the name! Read how teenage entrepreneur Jenk Oz showed future entrepreneurs how to start a successful Gen Z publishing and media house.
Developing a gluten-free bakery product with nutrition claims was the task for Food Science under-graduates, in this career-altering opportunity.
See how lucky students took on a planned 2-week work placement with Australia’s largest business bank and gained insights into future career options
The Great North Run Pasta Party is just one of hundreds of fun events run by BeaconHouse. They offer ‘hands on’ work experience to help
Reading based engineering business Bion understands how offering great experiences improves prospects – for them and their students.
A key focus of Baltic’s apprenticeship strategy is addressing the gender imbalance in the tech industry.
Accenture offer work experience encounters at their Advanced Technology Centre in Newcastle through their work with schools, colleges and universities.
Ed-tech company Geek Talent, offered local students age 16-18 an internship to build a prototype over 12 weeks in the summer of 2018.
In a programme that’s been running for 7 years, Law Firm Muckle LLP offer week-long work experience during the October half term for 16-18-year-olds.
Sterling Pharma Solutions offer a one-week work experience encounter every year in July, for 14-16 year olds.
Key team members at Babylon explain how work experience can be valuable for staff as well as students.
Annabel Hibbert was 16 when she was accepted to do work experience at Rolls-Royce, Derby in 2014, a year before she started her apprenticeship there.
Rolls-Royce are one of the largest providers of engineering work experience in the UK committed to showcasing just how exciting STEM subjects can be.
Meet Jack, age 17 who participated in BT's Work Ready Tech Literacy Placement Programme.
Meet Charles, age 22 who participated in BT's Work Ready Tech Literacy Placement Programme.
Meet Sarah, age 20 who participated in BT's Work Ready Tech Literacy Placement Programme.
Meet Amin, age 23 who participated in BT's Work Ready Tech Literacy Placement Programme.
Meet Tom, age 20 who participated in BT's Work Ready Tech Literacy Placement Programme.
In the JP Morgan's seaside Bournemouth Corporate Center they run successful apprenticeship and graduate programmes across all sides of the business.
The company found the internship programme gained enormous reward in hiring young professionals in terms of fresh perspective and knowledge.
Sam McLoughlin, from Studio West and Catherine Boland, HR Manager at Printed.com organised 2 workplace visits for sixty 13-14 year olds.