Written by Teri Greaves, Business Development Manager.
I attended the National Careers Week event in York on 4 March 2026, hosted at the STEM Learning Centre. The day started well—with sunshine, great music, and Yorkshire Tea—and only improved from there.
The focus of the day was on ensuring young people are presented with opportunities and have access to high-quality careers education. With the increasing number of NEET learners across the UK, now is the time to advocate for young people and provide good-quality careers advice that allows them to “own their future!”
It was a hugely inspiring day. I heard from a range of speakers who demonstrated how it is possible to give young people access to transformative opportunities and help them apply their skills in real-world settings.
The speakers shared different ways they are making work experience more accessible. This ranged from schools like Southmoor Academy, which has redesigned its curriculum to prepare students for work experience, to organisations like Morrisby, which offers a careers guidance platform to help learners explore suitable career paths.
There were also some great tips to support schools and careers advisers who may be struggling with employer engagement. These included partnering with colleges that already have established employer relationships, as well as using a range of readily available resources to help providers get started and improve the quality of their existing provision.
One of the best parts of the day was hearing from the Youth Panel members. Their dedication to securing their own work experience placements was inspiring. They used their initiative and the resources available to them to find placements that have influenced their future choices and educational paths. It was clear how meaningful their experiences were, as they helped build confidence and supported them in making decisions that felt right for their future goals.
As a charity, Open Awards is proud to offer work experience and supported internships to young people across the Liverpool City Region. We work closely with the Intern to Work Team at Liverpool City Council to ensure the work experience we provide is meaningful, confidence-building, and widens young people’s future opportunities.
As an Awarding Organisation, we also support young people by ensuring they have access to the knowledge and skills needed throughout their work experience journey. This includes regulated employability qualifications that help learners build CV skills, prepare for interviews, and search for opportunities. We also offer more bespoke accreditation, such as micro-credentials, which provide digital badges to recognise the time, effort, and skills young people develop during their placements. Our experienced Business Development team are available to support providers with finding the right qualifications to meet learners’ needs.