Research

The impact of career-related learning is well evidenced in research. You may find the research, evaluation reports and other articles collected here useful in informing your approach.

The research here shows the impact of different career-related learning programmes, as well as the evidence base behind different approaches. This page will be updated as more relevant work becomes available.

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Insight briefing 1: The promise of primary

Early insights on the impact of career-related learning in primary schools from Wave 1 of The Careers & Enterprise Company’s Start Small; Dream Big pilot.

 

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Primary Fund Evaluation

Aimed to provide schools and policy-makers with evidence and examples of what effective career-related learning (CRL) in primary education looks like.

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Starting Early – Building the foundations for success

This report makes the case for career-related learning in primary schools, based on new in-depth research from Education and Employers (2021)

 

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Drawing the Future

Exploring the career aspirations of primary school children from around the world. January 2018

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Occupational aspirations of children

From primary school to teenage years across ethnic groups.  A joint report by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies and the Runnymede Trust.

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Making Careers Education Age Appropriate

This report from The Centre for Education and Youth (CfEY) and Founders for Schools explores how to make career-related learning age appropriate.

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Making Work Experience Fit for Purpose

This report from the Centre for Education and Youth (CfEY) looks at how work experience could be made more effective for young people, schools and employers.

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What works?

This report by The Careers & Enterprise Company and Education & Employers, examines what works for best practice delivery of career-related learning in primary schools.

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Youth Social Action toolkit

This toolkit is intended to be simple to use, helping Careers Leaders and others support and develop youth social action, to enable more of their young people to be active citizens in their school or college and wider communities. 

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Career-related learning in primary

This report for Teach First from Education and Employers, the charity behind Primary Futures, provides evidence on the benefits of career development activities for children in the primary phase, and the range of teacher roles when delivering it.

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Career aspirations and workforce demands

This report from Education and Employers, presented at the World Economic Forum, compares children’s career aspirations with the UK’s projected workforce demands and found that they had nothing in common.

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Hallmarks of Success

This article brings together a number of research reports about the importance of starting early and includes hallmarks of success for career related learning from Education and Employers and the NAHT.

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Improving social mobility starts at primary

This article provides a summary of important research findings to support the argument that to improve social mobility, it's vital we support primary-age children in better understanding the world they are growing up in and make sure they don’t rule out opportunities too early

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