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.
Filter by:
Category
SEND
Gatsby benchmarks
Careers Impact Themes
Key stage
Campaigns
Type
Resource type
Role
I am a...
Resource 7: Gathering feedback and learnings from activities
This is the final resource in our Supporting Employers: Working with Young People with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) collection.
This resource looks at how you can reflect on the activities and ensures you are able to gather feedback that can inform future provision.
Resource 6: Guidance on choosing and planning an activity
This is the sixth resource in our Supporting Employers: Working with Young People with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) collection.
This resource takes you through some tips on choosing and planning activity when working with young people with SEND. It also contains useful checklists for when you choose your activity to support its implementation.
Resource 4: Tips for effective communication
This is the fourth resource in our Supporting Employers: Working with Young People with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) collection.
This resource contains tips on how to ensure effective communication when working with Schools, Special Schools and Colleges. It also looks at some questions you might want to ask to enable you to build an effective relationship.
Resource 2: The benefits and challenges
This is the second resource in our Supporting Employers: Working with Young People with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) collection.
This resource talks about the business benefits of working with young people with SEND and looks at the barriers and misconceptions that can be in place and how these can be overcome.
Springpod
Springpod is a free careers platform offering a whole host of exciting and impactful opportunities from virtual work experience to university experiences alongside useful advice and information related to career pathways.
Careers Education Framework
National charity Ambitious about Autism has produced autism-specific resources to help careers leaders and professionals deliver effective careers education programmes for autistic young people.
The Careers Education Framework has free, easy-to-follow online resources to support autistic young people in mainstream and specialist educational settings successfully transition into adulthood and employment.
Resource 5: Gaining Support from different stakeholders
This is the fifth resource in our Supporting Employers: Working with Young People with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) collection.
In this resource you can gain some understanding about how to gain support from stakeholders including colleagues and Senior Leaders in schools.
Tips to create an online work experience programme
Top Tips from AET on creating an online work experience programme.
Immerse Education
Immerse Education offers two week programmes in academic subject development with tutors from the University of Oxford and Cambridge. These take place as a residential programme in July and August, with accommodation provided at the universities, and a full programme of support academic and social activities.
There are also options to take part virtually, with an Online Academic Insights programme that runs for two weeks in December, April and throughout July and August. Although this is a fee-paying programme, we have bursaries available, and offer scholarships based on an essay competition open to all students aged 13-18.
Imagen experience
This resource provides 16-25-year-olds with valuable insight into the marketing world – along with opportunities to gain paid work experience.
Find an Activity Provider tool
This portal lists organisations that have activities that meet Gatsby Benchmark 5 (encounters with employers and employees) and Benchmark 6 (experience of workplaces).
Discover Creative Careers
Funded by DCMS and led by industry, the Discover Creative Careers website is an online portal packed with information, resources and events to help young people explore roles in the creative industries. Starting with an interactive careers finder tool connecting to more than 520 job profiles and an opportunity directory of events, resources, skills competitions, virtual work experience and more.