Implementing 2 weeks’ worth of work experience

Our vision is that 2 weeks’ worth of work experience will be based on the following set of principles, building on the Benchmark 6 definition of meaningful.

Two weeks’ worth of work experience should be broken down into:

• One weeks’ worth of work experience activities in years 7 to 9.
• One weeks’ worth of work experience placement(s) in years 10 to 11.

Experiences should be aspirational and inspirational, giving young people the opportunity to access a wide range of career opportunities, aligned to their interests and talents, local skills needs and national growth sectors. Opportunity should go beyond the horizons of their immediate friends and family.

They should be co-designed and delivered in partnership with schools and involve two-way employer-pupil interaction.

Work experience activities in years 7 to 9

Work experience activities in years 7 to 9 should consist of multiple, varied and meaningful employer-led activities to explore different industries and careers and involve active engagement with a diverse range of employers, including small and medium sized enterprises. Activities could include:

• Multi-day work visits involving employer-set tasks or projects.
• Work shadowing.
• In-person or virtual employer talks in the workplace, including technical demonstrations or tours of working premises.

These could be undertaken individually or as part of a group or class-based activity. Some or all of the activities can be in person, with virtual activities contributing but not replacing in person.

Work experience placement(s) in years 10 to 11

Work experience placement(s) in years 10 to 11 should allow pupils to experience a real working environment and begin to develop work-based skills and behaviours.

Pupils should be free to undertake their 5 days’ worth of work experience placement(s) in years 10 to 11 with more than one employer, irrespective of sector, and be able to spread their placement time across a number of days or weeks at any point during the year 10 to 11 curriculum. This might be advantageous to young people who are undecided on their careers interests, by offering scope to try more employers and sectors.

We expect that the work experience placement(s) in years 10 to 11 be in-person, but acknowledge that in exceptional circumstances meaningful hybrid or virtual approaches may be impactful in removing barriers to access. In those circumstances, we would expect best endeavours to use remote engagement alongside, but not instead of, in-person activity.

For Colleges

Colleges should ensure that every learner has had at least one experience of a workplace during their programme of study. High-quality and meaningful experiences of workplaces are a key component of 16 to 19 study programmes.

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.