Encounters with employers and employees
Every learner should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be through a range of enrichment opportunities, including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes, and could include learners’ own part-time employment where it exists.
What good looks like
Schools
- Every year, from the age of 11, learners should participate in at least one meaningful encounter with an employer.
Further Education
- Every year, alongside their programme of study, learners should participate in at least two meaningful encounters with an employer. At least one encounter should be delivered through their curriculum area.
Gatsby have provided a definition of what constitutes a ‘meaningful encounter’ with employers and employees:
A meaningful encounter gives the learner the opportunity to learn about what work is like, what skills are valued in the workplace, their recruitment processes and what it takes to be successful.
A meaningful encounter will:
- have a clear purpose, which is shared with the employer and the learner.
- be underpinned by learning outcomes that are appropriate to the needs of the learner.
- have opportunities for two-way interactions between the learner and the employer.
- be followed by time for the learner to reflect on the insights, knowledge or skills gained through the encounter.
Schools, colleges and ITPs can take into account any part-time work a learner may have, if it genuinely offers them a meaningful experience.
The resources below are designed to support you with Gatsby Benchmark 5. To explore all of the Gatsby Benchmarks in greater depth, download the toolkit that best aligns with your setting.
Provide multiple opportunities for meaningful employer encounters. Organise at least one meaningful encounter with an employer every year within a progressive careers programme. This could include employer-led workshops, mentoring, mock interviews, enterprise schemes, etc. These resources help Careers Leaders to plan, implement and impact evaluate a progressive and embedded approach to Benchmarks 5 and 6.
Encounters with employers, employees and the self-employed (…)result in better outcomes for young people, including being more ready for the workplace; having a reduced likelihood of not being in education, employment or training (NEET); and increased careers awareness, motivation and confidence. Use the checklist in this resource when planning all employer encounters.
Find and contact delivery organisations to support employer encounters via the CEC’s Provider Directory. Keep a centralised record of all the employers that deliver careers activities to your learners by utilising the Careers Partners section in Compass+. Enter contact details for employers safely and securely, then use the intuitive filter functionality to support targeted and meaningful employer engagement.
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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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..
Employer Education Outreach: Starter pack resources
These resources are designed to be used in conjunction with the guide - Employer education outreach: A starter pack. They’re aimed at employers just starting to work with schools, special schools and colleges. They’ll support you to provide meaningful opportunities that help young people gain a taste of the working world.
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.
equalex
Developed by the Careers & Enterprise Company and supported by Careers Hubs, the equalex framework, defines learning outcomes and objectives and allows educators to embed meaningful workplace experiences within a progressive whole school careers programme.
Watch the video below, 'Leadership in Action: Defining the Future of High-Quality, Modern Work Experiences,' to learn about the benefits.
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.
The WOW Show
Take advantage of this free, flexible teaching tool which provides ‘meaningful’ virtual video encounters in line with Gatsby Benchmark 5 for young people to explore a significant range of workplaces and ‘meet’ near peers to understand what their jobs are really like.
Check out the latest film!
Engaging education leaders in the peer-to-peer review process
Resources to help you understand the value of taking part in a peer-to-peer review, or to support education leaders in engaging meaningfully with the process.
Understanding how to embed progressive employer encounters and work experiences
These resources help Careers Leaders to plan, implement and impact evaluate a progressive and embedded approach to Benchmarks 5 and 6. The resource supports a meaningful approach and is underpinned by the following core guiding principles:
- Start early to develop a progressive approach that allows for multiple encounters and experiences across all key stages
- Be intent and outcome led
- Be responsive to learner need, evaluation data and regional/labour market context