Cheltenham Racecourse Hosts Careers Fair for Nearly 2,000 Students

Approximately 2,000 students participated in a careers fair held over a day at a renowned racecourse, an event described as “brilliant” by one attendee. On Wednesday, Cheltenham Racecourse, located in Gloucestershire, served as the venue for the event, where 60 companies engaged with students to present potential opportunities within their organizations. This initiative follows Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s statement that the government had taken over a nation that “isn’t working” and his pledge to address the primary causes of unemployment and inactivity. Angela Edwards, director of Circle 2 Success, stated that the business sector aimed to “engage” with younger generations. A component of the fair included speed networking sessions, where company representatives met individually with students. Over approximately seven-minute intervals, participants had the chance to gain insights into each business’s operations and inquire about potential work experience placements. Data from an analysis conducted by The Key Group, which examined 146,947 Year 10 students across 756 secondary schools in England, indicated that merely 49% of individuals aged 14 to 15 had undertaken some form of work experience during the 2023/24 academic year. The analysis further suggested that for those who did participate, the average duration of a placement was just under five days, with less than 2% of pupils completing work experience for two weeks or longer. Ms Edwards, who coordinated the event with her team, stated: “We have great education here [in the county] but a lot of young people don’t have those connections so they leave to get jobs elsewhere.” She further commented: “To have sustainable growth for the whole of the county, encouraging students to come back because they’ve met good businesses, is a good thing.” She also mentioned: “We’re running a competition encouraging students to talk to the businesses and they can win up to 60 work placement days at their schools.” She concluded: “That’s our business community here today looking to engage with young people and give them those opportunities, which is just going to be great for everybody.” A Year 10 student from Gloucester Academy informed the BBC that the day represented a “big opportunity.” Keith commented: “We can learn about companies and all that, so in the future we have an opportunity to get jobs.” Another student from the academy, following discussions with business representatives from Laithwaites Wine, reported having “learned a lot.” Dana remarked: “We spoke a lot about how they have about 25 different departments on the job and I found it really interesting, it’s kind of awesome.” Helen Pugh of Laithwaites Wine characterized the event’s magnitude as unprecedented. She stated: “Career fairs normally last about three hours and there’s probably four or five schools that attend.” She added: “To have nearly 2,000 students in one place on one day with all of this opportunity is amazing.” Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.