Empowering Students: Careers Guidance & Gatsby Benchmarks

Help your students reach their potential

We are a youth charity that believes every young person should have the opportunity to succeed and reach their potential. Click ‘Get Started’ to register for an account for your school/college or scroll down to discover free resources that can help set your students on the path to reaching their career potential.
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How can we help your students?

Our charity exists to help your students to carve their own path in life. If you represent a UK state secondary school or college, click on the tiles below to explore our latest work experience opportunities, browse our library of inspirational talks or arrange for a VIP speaker to visit your school or find out more about our online book club.

Who benefits from what we offer?

You, your students and the employers we work with! The more we can support you in helping your students into careers they love, the more we all stand to benefit from having a more diverse and productive workforce. Without our charity’s help, it can be hard for some young people to get ahead or even imagine themselves in certain careers.

Let us help supplement your school/college’s careers education programme so that you can improve your students’ outcomes.

Help your students learn about a wider range of career options
Get your students in front of big-name businesses wherever they live
Boost your students’ skills and confidence
Get evidence for your child’s CV, personal statement, apprenticeship or job application
Enable your students to find careers that really suit them
Get free support to help your students to reach their potential

Our frequent
collaborators

Who are Speakers for Schools?

Launched in 2010 by ITV’s Political Editor Robert Peston, Speakers for Schools is a youth social mobility charity that seeks to raise career ambitions among young people from less privileged backgrounds across the UK, and provide the necessary inspiration, experience and networking opportunities for them to succeed.

We provide support in the form of local, national and UK-wide opportunities to young people from state schools, colleges and ITPs at no cost to students, parents/carers or your school/college/ITP. Since launch, we have already supported more than 1.3 million young people to discover more about the world of work.

Since the start of the pandemic, we have partnered with over 1,000 employers to offer industry-leading virtual work experience to young people in every region of the UK. We already work with over 3,400 schools, colleges and ITPs in England and, through our charity, young people from anywhere in England can:

  • Access high-quality work experience that meets Gatsby Benchmarks 5 and 6
  • Take part in employer-led activities based on the Skills Builder Universal Framework
  • Expand their knowledge of careers and pathways into different careers

The latest from the blog

Meet our new Youth Council

Meet our new Youth Council Welcome from Callum and Zephaniah Making change for young people is important. But to succeed, young people must be involved. We are therefore excited to introduce our second (and now national) Youth Council. We hope that a broader range of young people will help offer the best possible advice and […]

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New report outlines double disadvantage barring fair access to top universities

New report outlines double disadvantage barring fair access to top universities

New report outlines double disadvantage barring fair access to top universities The attainment gap between young people attending state schools and private schools – which already inhibits fair access to the country’s top universities for even the most talented state sector students – is further compounded by the double disadvantage of lack of access to […]

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children education policy roundtable chatting

Enhancing youth skills for future employment

Enhancing youth skills for future employment Last week, we held an inspiring roundtable in Portsmouth to rethink the intersectionality of education, skills, and social mobility. We invited a diverse assembly of businesses, educators, policymakers, and, most importantly, young voices to discuss the barriers young people face to succeed, irrespective of their social class or place […]

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