The First Step Into Work Isn't Equal for Every Young Person
A recent UK Government report on young people and work says something we already knew from experience - that the move from education into employment isn't working the same way for everyone.
The interim report, led by Alan Milburn for the Department for Work and Pensions, is clear about the scale of the challenge. Apprenticeship starts among young people have fallen by more than 40%. Yet in research carried out for the review, 84% of young people not in education, employment or training said they wanted to work, study or train.
The issue is a lack of access.
For the students we support, that gap often becomes most visible when university and career choices start to feel real. A young person may have secured a place to study accountancy or finance, but still be unsure what the profession involves, whether it is right for them, or how to take the next step.
For those who have grown up around the profession, the route in may feel relatively straightforward. There may be someone who can explain the qualifications, talk through an application or help them prepare for an interview. For others, that knowledge and support simply are not there.
Recruitment has also become more complex. Graduate roles are highly competitive, and selection processes can include psychometric testing, recorded video interviews and assessment centres alongside more traditional interviews.
Practice makes a real difference. But access to that practice is not evenly shared.
A student with strong professional networks may have several opportunities to understand how these processes work before facing the one that matters most. Another may encounter an assessment centre for the first time when a graduate role is already on the line.
The gap is not only practical. Some students are also carrying a deeper question - is this profession really for someone like me?
Waiting until graduate recruitment to answer that question is too late. If the profession wants to attract talent from a wider range of backgrounds, it must become visible and accessible earlier.
That's the gap we try to close. Bursaries help (and sometimes that funding is simply what gets a student in the room in the first place), but money's only part of it. A mentor can make an unfamiliar profession feel less intimidating. An internship turns "accountant" from an abstract idea into something a student can picture themselves doing. And building genuine practice and confidence for things like assessment centres is something we're actively developing further.
Employers have a part to play too - accessible recruitment, real work experience, and showing up before students have already ruled themselves out. Not as a nice-to-have alongside the day job, but as how the profession actually finds its next generation of talent.
You can't navigate a path you've never been shown, and you can't build experience if nobody gives you the first shot.
Where you start shouldn't decide where you end up. Making that first step easier is where a more representative profession begins.
