Experiences of workplaces
Every learner should have first-hand experiences of workplaces to help their exploration of career opportunities and expand their networks
What good looks like
Schools
- By the age of 16, every pupil should have had meaningful experiences of workplaces.
- By the age of 18, every pupil should have had at least one further meaningful experience.
Further Education
- By the end of their programme of study, every learner should have had at least one meaningful experience of a workplace, in addition to any part-time jobs they may have
Gatsby have provided a definition of what constitutes a meaningful experience:
A meaningful experience is one in which the learner has an opportunity to explore what it is like to work in that environment, the skills valued in the workplace, recruitment processes or what it takes to be successful.
A meaningful experience 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.
- Involve an extensive two-way interaction between learners and employees.
- Include opportunities for learners to meet a range of different people from the workplace.
- Include opportunities for learners to perform a task set by the employer or produce a piece of work relevant to that workplace.
- Include feedback from the employer to learners on their work.
- Be followed by opportunities for learners to reflect on the insights, knowledge or skills gained through their experience.
Schools, colleges and ITPs can take into account any part-time work a young person may have, if it genuinely offers them a meaningful experience.
The resources below are designed to support you with Gatsby Benchmark 6. To explore all of the Gatsby Benchmarks in greater depth, download the toolkit that best aligns with your setting.
Embed experiences of workplaces within progressive careers provision. Define specific, measurable learning outcomes for learners to achieve during their experiences of the workplace. Set clear expectations and reflection milestones for both learners and employers to ensure the experience is mutually beneficial and impactful. Access this resource for support in mapping your entire provision, including a progressive approach to work experience.
Consider your approach to modern work experience. By providing multiple, varied work experiences – encompassing both conventional placements and innovative, non-traditional opportunities – you can create progressive Careers Learning Journeys that equips learners with what they need to make informed and aspirational decisions and to be careers ready. Find out more about modern work experience via the CEC webiste.
Use the checklist in the Understanding how to embed impact driven modern work experience resource when planning all experiences of workplaces.
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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Creating Meaningful Work Experience Opportunities for Young People with SEND
Developed by South Midlands Careers Hub, this toolkit offers practical guidance and resources for delivering meaningful work experience for learners with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
Work Experience - Resources for Employers
This resource offers a practical, step-by-step guide and template to support employers in planning and delivering effective work experience opportunities for young people.
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.
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.
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.
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
Gatsby Benchmark Toolkit: Schools, Special Schools & AP
The Gatsby Benchmark Toolkit for Schools, Special Schools and Alternative Provisions provides practical information and guidance on the updated Gatsby Benchmarks .
Careers Impact System peer-to-peer review
The Careers Impact peer-to-peer review is an expert-facilitated, collaborative process that brings external challenge to strengthen careers leadership and improvement planning. It supports institutions to test their thinking, refine priorities, and embed high-quality careers provision across the system.