Linking curriculum learning to careers
As part of the school’s programme of careers education, all teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. Subject teachers should highlight the progression routes for their subject and the relevance of the knowledge and skills developed in their subject for a wide range of career pathways
What good looks like
- Every year, in every subject, every pupil should have opportunities to learn how the knowledge and skills developed in that subject help people gain entry to, and be more effective workers within, a wide range of careers.
- Careers should form part of the school’s ongoing staff development programme for teachers and all staff who support learners.
The resources below are designed to support you with Gatsby Benchmark 4. To explore all of the Gatsby Benchmarks in greater depth, download the toolkit that best aligns with your setting.
Encourage teachers to show learners how their subject connects to career opportunities or progression pathways. This includes explaining potential job roles, industries, and career or progression pathways where the skills and knowledge from their subject are relevant. This resource helps Careers Leaders to embed careers in the curriculum.
Make careers a part of the school, special school, college or provider's ongoing staff development programme. Provide teachers with the tools and knowledge to effectively link their subject areas to career opportunities, helping them bring real-world relevance into their lessons. Explore the free and funded training offer for all staff (including teaching staff and SENCOs).
Increase staff confidence in understanding pathways. Encourage all staff to complete the free online course, Teachers Part 1: Understanding Career Pathways. Support the SENCO and wider SEND team to complete the free online SENCO: Understanding Pathways and Career Opportunities course. Both available via The Careers & Enterprise Academy.
Support all staff to highlight the relevance of their subjects and make links from their curriculum. Encourage staff to access the guide and slide deck for their subject, to engage learners in learning and highlight where your subject can take them in the future. Staff supporting young people with SEND are encouraged to access the My Journey, My Future and the My Skills My Future resources to make effective transitions.
Education Leaders and Governors:
Education Leaders and Governors: For further information on each Benchmark, to support you in your role, please see the Education Leader, Secondary and College Governor Guides.
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Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI)
IMI Autocity is the one-stop-shop for impartial careers information and advice on careers in the Automotive Industry.
Free teaching resources, lesson plans, competitions and toolkits.
STEM Futures Unlocked
Unlock a STEM future for every student A brand new free CPD course for science teachers. Providing simple, evidence-based strategies to make STEM feel relevant, accessible and achievable for your students.
Ultimate STEM Challenge: Asteroid Action Force
Could your students help save Earth? The Asteroid Action Force is recruiting!
Your students’ mission is simple:
- Learn about asteroids and planetary defence.
- Investigate real-world techniques used to protect Earth.
- Create a planet-saving invention of their own.
- Win out of this world prizes.
Careers in The Curriculum – Auditing Resource
This audit is a key tool to support a shift towards distributed leadership and accountability for careers learning across subject areas. Designed for faculty heads and subject leads, with Senior Leadership backing recommended, it helps assess current provision, identify training needs, clarify responsibilities, and showcase effective practice to drive Benchmark 4.
Talentino!
Talentino programmes have been helping to improve career outcomes for young people with a range of learning difficulties in a mixture of settings – special schools, mainstream schools, AP, PRU, SEMH, etc.
The Big Inclusive SEND Careers Handbook, written by Jenny Connick. Published by Trotman Publishing. View the book and download a sample chapter here!
Find an Activity Provider tool
This is a tool for Careers Leaders, Hub leads, Enterprise Coordinators, and any education leaders to find and contact delivery organisations who can help achieve the Gatsby Benchmarks. Our quality assurance process ensures the activities listed on the directory match the requirements of each of the benchmarks they help schools/colleges to achieve.
My Environment My Future
My Environment My Future (MEMF) is a fully-funded school programme which embeds knowledge, resources and guidance on careers within the built environment into the delivery of the Key Stage 2 & 3 National Curriculum and the core GCSE and A-level Geography curriculum; so for students aged 8-18, spanning primary and all of secondary schools.
There is an accompanying national competition, which again is free. The competition can be used with the teaching materials or on its own, and aims to give young people agency in considering their local built environment.
It is completely free to register, download and use all the resources. For more information on MEMF, please visit the website.
Careers Talk Template and Videos
Pitching the sector and your career to a group of students can be a daunting process. We’ve created a career presentation template along with safeguarding guidance to help you prepare for school visits.
Careers Impact Engagement and Conversation Guide
Enabling conversations with education leaders to connect careers provision with learner outcomes, organisational priorities and long-term improvement.
Transition Guide from Primary to Secondary: enhancing careers education and supporting parental engagement
This resource is designed to support Careers Leaders and other staff involved in the transition process from Key Stage 2 into Key Stage 3, exploring opportunities to embed careers activities and parental engagement across the full range of transition opportunities.
It takes you through the three phases:
- Decision making (Y4,5,6) while children and parents /carers are still considering their options.
- Decision made (Y6) once the children have been allocated their secondary school.
- Started (Y7) once the children have started their secondary school..
Curriculum Audit Tool
The purpose of this curriculum audit tool is to enable a whole institution view of where, throughout the curriculum, knowledge is being delivered and evidence is being gathered against the Universal career related learning outcomes.
Compass Evaluation
A Compass evaluation enables education settings to quickly and easily evaluate their careers activity against the eight Gatsby Benchmarks.
The Compass evaluation feature was built in partnership with the Gatsby Charitable Foundation to help practitioners easily discover their education setting's strengths and find areas for improvement.
The Compass evaluation questions have had some small updates for 26/27 and updated question by question guidance is coming soon to reflect these changes.