Careers Connect

BID Lead
Louisa Briggs
Email Louisa Briggs
Other Projects

Connecting Educators and Businesses to help develop and promote early career and work experience opportunities for Bristol’s students and young people

Project Type
CONNECTING & REPRESENTING BUSINESSES
Date
May 2025

Following various focus and working groups, with students, student representatives, businesses and educators, it was established there was a need for…

  • Mutual and unbiased city-wide career support.
  • Improving connections between the educational sector and businesses looking to set up work experience opportunities.
  • A central location to promote programs and opportunities that businesses or educators are running to support work experience/early careers.

Since the start of 2024, our conversations with organisations offering different ways of supporting early careers have led to…

  • A focus group for students and student representatives to establish what the BID can do to support them (Early 2024).
  • A working group with educators and businesses to understand the gaps in bringing these groups together to better collaborate on work experience/early career support (October 2024).
  • An Educator & Businesses Connect event, bringing the two groups together to network, share ideas and collaborate on supporting students and young people in Bristol. This included a panel discussion on setting up and developing a work experience offering and other ways to support in a business or educational setting. (April 2025)

Early Careers & Work Experience Toolkit

Explore resources and opportunities available for both educators and businesses...

Western Training Provider Network

Connect with training providers in the region who have access to students looking for employment.

find out more

UoB: The SME Internship Scheme

Provides paid work experience of 4 weeks with SMEs. Supporting organisations and providing opportunities for internships.

find out more

UoB: City Challenges

An initiative providing students with opportunities to engage with charities and social enterprises in Bristol.

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National Institute of Teachers

National recruitment drive for teachers with a regional hub in Bristol.

find out more

Not Impossible

Making it easy for employers to host talented 16–25 year-olds, through microplacements that fuel social mobility.

find out more

WECA: Good Employment Charter

A voluntary membership and accreditation scheme supporting organisations to boost productivity and achieve higher growth.

find out more

WECA: Youth Guarentee

An initiative supporting young people aged 18–21 in the West of England to find work, training, or apprenticeships.

find out more

Skills Connect

Empowers people of all ages and career stages to find skills, training, and career support in the region.

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Growth Hub

A business support guide for finding the right support for your business

find out more

We are looking to grow and improve this toolkit over time, supporting both educators and businesses in developing work experience and opportunities for building experience. We want this to be a central hub for directing them to things happening in the city that can support Bristol students and young people. Please get in touch if you would like to help expand our resource toolkit.

 

Help expand our resource toolkit

Images: Oliver Robinson