Careers Conference - What Makes Work Experience Work for Everyone?

Join us for an inspiring and practical conference designed to empower careers professionals with the knowledge and tools to identify the critical conditions to ensure work experience works for everyone. Throughout this event, you'll engage in hands-on workshops led by experts in the field, each focused on equipping you with actionable strategies to enhance your practice, build stronger employer partnerships, and support students in their career journeys. 

By attending this conference, you will:

- Leave with a clear understanding of the conditions of success that underpin high-quality, inclusive work experience for young people, SEND learners, careers professionals, educators, employers.

- Strengthen inclusive practice, ensuring work experience is accessible, equitable, and meaningful for all learners, including those with SEND, different starting points, and diverse aspirations.

- Develop confidence as careers leaders, advisers, and governors to design, oversee, and continuously improve work experience programmes across schools, sixth forms, and FE colleges

.- Gain insight into effective employer engagement, learning how to build sustainable partnerships that deliver value for both learners and organisations.

- Learn from evidence based and scalable models, understanding what works, why it works, and how it can be adapted across different contexts.

- Leave with practical tools, ideas, and next steps to strengthen work experience provision within your own setting.

Organised by the West of England Careers Hub at SGS Wise Campus, New Road, Stoke Gifford, BS34 8LP. Free parking is available at the venue.

Guest speaker: Ellise Hayward is a non-verbal motivational speaker, advocate, and changemaker who uses her lived experience of cerebral palsy to challenge perceptions and inspire inclusion. Her powerful message, “Ask, Never Assume,” challenges misconceptions and invites more open, respectful dialogue—empowering individuals and organisations to create truly inclusive environments.

Expert panel discussion chaired by Kelly Dillon, Senior Manager for Progression, Transition and Removal of Barriers at the CEC. 

Audience: Career Leaders, Co-Ordinators, Advisers and Careers Link Governors from West of England secondary mainstream, SEND schools, Alternative Learning Providers and Further Education Colleges.

Please select two workshops you would like to attend. Where possible we will try to accommodate your choice. The afternoon workshop session is mandatory for all.

Workshop 1 - Work Experience as a School/College Improvement Tool: Attendance, Engagement & NEET Reduction

This interactive workshop will help you sharpen your strategic approach to Work Experience (WEX) and strengthen the case for starting earlier at KS3. Through powerful case studies, practical examples, and collaborative message‑building, you’ll explore how high‑quality WEX directly supports school strategic priorities—including attendance, engagement, and reducing NEET. You’ll leave with clear, confident messages and tools you can use immediately with SLT, employers, students, and families.

Workshop 2 - It Takes a Team: Rethinking Work Experience Through Distributed Leadership

This session explores how distributed leadership can strengthen the planning, coordination, and delivery of high-quality work experience. Rather than relying on a single careers lead, this approach encourages shared responsibility to create more meaningful and sustainable programmes. Through practical examples and models, participants will identify key stakeholders, consider both strategic and operational approaches aligned to Gatsby Benchmark 6, and leave with clear, actionable steps to develop or enhance a sustainable work experience model within their organisation.

Workshop 3 - Building Lasting Employer Partnerships: A Trust Led Strategy with Employer Insight

This workshop supports careers leaders to build strong, sustainable relationships with employers that enrich careers education and create meaningful opportunities for students. Alongside an educational setting focused strategy, participants will also hear directly from an employer, who will share their experience of leading business breakfasts and supporting Modern Work Experience. This perspective will help schools and colleges understand what employers value, what keeps them engaged, and how to co‑design impactful experiences for young people.

Workshop 4 - Making Equalex Matter: Communicating the Framework Effectively to Employers

This workshop focuses on how to effectively communicate the Equalex framework to employers in a way that builds understanding, engagement, and commitment including its importance in supporting learners with SEND. Participants will explore practical strategies for translating the framework into clear, employer-friendly messaging that highlights its value and relevance to workplace-based learning. The session will also consider how to address barriers and strengthen employer confidence in working with diverse learners.

Workshop 5 - Using OnTrack+ to embed an evidence informed process for early identification and intervention (applicable for schools)

The session will focus on practical strategies for integrating OnTrack+ (a NEET prevention tool) into existing processes to improve decision-making, strengthen intervention planning, and support better learner outcomes. Delegates will leave with a clearer understanding of how to use the system to build a more responsive, consistent, and data-driven approach to learner support.

Workshop for Colleges, Post 16 and SEND P16 - National System Review: most impactful models of work experience for young people whose needs might otherwise go unmet. (Please select this under 10.25am workshop in ticket selection)

This workshop for careers professionals in colleges and post-16 settings explores the most impactful models of work experience for young people whose needs might otherwise go unmet. Based on findings from the Nation System Reviews with five FE colleges, the session examines five key conditions for success: leadership vision and intent, strategic careers planning, student career learning journeys, distributed leadership, and impact evaluation. Participants will also explore inclusive strategies for supporting SEND learners and leave with practical ideas and examples to strengthen work experience provision for all learners.

Parent and Carer Engagement Workshop for Colleges and Post-16 Settings. (Please select this under 11.25am workshop in ticket selection)

This interactive workshop will introduce participants to the latest developments and tools available within the Compass+ platform, including the new parent and carer questionnaire, Your Child’s Future. Participants will explore how feedback from parents and carers can be used to inform planning, enhance engagement strategies, and support continuous improvement across work experience and careers programmes. The workshop will also provide opportunities to share effective practice, reflect on current approaches, and identify practical strategies for increasing parent and carer engagement within colleges and post-16 settings.

Agenda