From Classroom to Career: Why Technical Education Is Having Its Moment
What if young people could see where their education might take them long before they leave the classroom?
That’s the thinking behind Andy Burnham’s latest proposals for technical education, apprenticeships and employment, and it’s a conversation that feels particularly relevant to BRILLIANT.
The new Prime Minister’s plans put a renewed focus on giving young people clearer routes into skilled careers, with technical education, work experience and greater involvement from employers forming a much bigger part of the journey from school to work.
Engineering, manufacturing, digital, construction and the green economy are among the industries in focus. But behind the headlines sits a much bigger question; are we preparing young people for the future workforce?
It’s a question we’ll be asking at BRILLIANT this November.
Creating a clearer line from classroom to career
For decades, the route from school to university has been relatively easy to understand. The alternatives haven’t always had the same visibility.
Apprenticeships, T Levels and technical careers can offer brilliant opportunities, but young people need to know those opportunities exist and understand where the subjects, skills and experiences they gain at school could eventually take them.
That means career conversations need to begin earlier.
A young person experimenting with coding, designing something in a STEAM lesson or discovering they love solving engineering challenges might not yet know the job title they’re heading towards, and they may not necessarily need to right away.
What matters is giving them opportunities to explore, experiment and meet the people who can show them what’s possible.
Schools can’t do it alone
If we want stronger routes into engineering, technology, manufacturing and other skilled industries, education and industry need to work much more closely together.
That doesn’t simply mean an employer arriving at school once a year for a careers fair. It means creating meaningful opportunities for young people to experience industries, understand different roles, develop relevant skills and meet people already doing the jobs they might one day consider.
Building strong relationships allow employers to understand the skills their industries need and educators understand how young people learn, what inspires them and the challenges schools face. Bringing those perspectives together can help us create much stronger pathways into future careers.
That kind of collaboration sits right at the heart of BRILLIANT.
STEAM is about more than learning a subject
Technical education doesn’t mean we should narrow what young people learn.
The engineers, developers, designers, scientists and entrepreneurs of the future will need technical knowledge, but they’ll also need creativity, curiosity, communication, resilience, collaboration and the confidence to approach problems differently.
History has taught us that technology will change and jobs will change. Some of the careers today’s pupils eventually enter may not even exist yet.
Preparing young people for that future isn’t simply about teaching them to use today’s tools. It’s about developing the skills that will allow them to adapt to tomorrow’s.
That’s why creativity and STEAM belong at the centre of this conversation.
From policy to practice
Big ambitions for technical education are exciting, but the harder question is how we make them work.
How can schools build stronger relationships with employers?
How early should career conversations begin?
How do we make apprenticeships and technical routes as visible and aspirational as university?
How can STEAM help young people discover opportunities they didn’t know existed?
How do we make sure those opportunities are accessible to every young person, regardless of their background?
These aren’t questions with one simple answer, and that’s exactly why we need to get people talking.
Join the conversation at BRILLIANT
At BRILLIANT, educators, employers, policymakers, researchers and industry leaders will come together to explore what preparing young people for the future really looks like.
Agenda items include:
Are We Preparing Young People for the Future Workforce?
From Classroom to Career
Breaking Barriers: Inspiring the Next Generation of Women in Technology
and sessions exploring creativity, STEAM, AI and emerging technology
We’ll look beyond the headlines and ask what needs to happen next, because creating better pathways into engineering, technology and skilled careers isn’t something schools, employers or policymakers can achieve in isolation.
It starts by getting the right people in the same room.
Join us at BRILLIANT Festival and be part of the conversation shaping what comes next.