Youth career readiness

We have been successfully delivering assemblies and workshops focused on apprenticeships to students, parents and carers in the UK since 2019. From 2019 to 2025, we delivered through the Apprenticeships Support and Knowledge (ASK) programme across the UK, which raised apprenticeship awareness among over 100,000 students each year. Now, we are excited to be delivering the Apprenticeships, Information, and Meaningful Encounters (AIM) programme in London, which provides multiple student-facing visits at schools and colleges each year.

Through our Inspiring Careers programme in England, we also provide qualified level 6 careers adviser time to schools and colleges, facilitate employer encounters and work experience, and support learning providers to embed careers education in their settings. We also help to develop careers provision in West London through the West London Careers Hub, joining up careers activity across education, employers, local authorities, community, and the voluntary sector.

Our other smaller initiatives to build young people’s future readiness in the UK include Early Connect – which is designed to increase awareness and take-up of apprenticeships in the North East of England – and Future Forward, which offered local, personalised support to over 250 young people in West Yorkshire.

In Rwanda, we are proud to be partnering with UNICEF and Rwanda’s Ministry of Education to improve access to secondary education or equivalent pathways for out-of-school youth in Rwanda, through the Resilience in Secondary Education in Rwanda (RISE Rwanda) programme. RISE Rwanda is a Mastercard Foundation initiative, aligned with the Foundation's broader Young Africa Works Strategy, which aims to enable 30 million young people, particularly young women, across Africa to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030. On RISE Rwanda, we are working closely with our partners to develop a curriculum framework for accelerated education to support vulnerable groups who are out of school. Secondary and vocational education equips young people with the critical knowledge and skills needed to secure decent-paying jobs and contribute meaningfully to economic transformation. We look forward to seeing the positive impact of this programme for young people across Rwanda.

We are proud to deliver the Lifelong Learners programme in the Middle East, which prepares high school students for the future in a rapidly changing world, using English as a medium of instruction. Lifelong Learners goes beyond teaching English and career skills – it empowers students to take charge of their own learning, and incorporates all the essential elements of edt’s future readiness approach. Its young participants learn about digital technology, climate action, financial literacy, navigating the job market, and looking after their own wellbeing. They also develop their creativity and critical thinking capabilities, their ability to collaborate and adapt, and their proficiency and confidence in English language communication.

After a successful pilot in Jordan and Egypt, which built the confidence and skills of over 200 students, we are excited to expand the programme in partnership with the Crown Prince Foundation in Jordan. This next phase will provide 130 students with the same opportunity to strengthen their English language skills, express themselves confidently, and engage in innovative learning experiences.