Over 20,000 young Londoners are expected to engage with a wide range of major companies and institutions, including the BBC, NatWest, Barbican Centre, and London Symphony Orchestra, at the London Careers Festival next month.

The City of London Corporation, which runs the event, aims to inspire the capital’s pupils, and guide them into successful careers - offering employment advice, apprenticeships, and work experience.

The free festival will connect students from the capital’s primary and secondary schools with the world of work and will take place over two weeks, starting with a ‘virtual’ festival (20 - 24 June), followed by events at the Square Mile’s Guildhall and other City of London venues (27 June - 1 July).

Among the major companies offering a virtual audience with young attendees during the first week are the BBC, The Guardian Foundation, Royal Geographical Society, and Sir Robert McAlpine.

Bloomberg, Generation Success, and Career Ear will host free workshops, while this year sees the return of the in-person ApprenticeFutures careers event and Livery Schools Link showcase, as well as a full day of creative careers sessions, in collaboration with Culture Mile Learning.

Chair of the London Careers Festival and the City of London Corporation’s Education Board, Caroline Haines, said:

“Young people have been dealt a particularly bad hand by the pandemic but, as London recovers from the virus, so does the capital’s jobs market.

“That’s why the London Careers Festival is so important. We want to fuel young Londoners’ imaginations, and shape their futures, helping the capital’s firms to access the large untapped talent pool that is critical for future growth.

“London needs a diverse and resilient future workforce, with job opportunities available to people of all backgrounds, so its businesses can compete globally and create lasting value for people across the UK.”

The London Careers Festival is ideally positioned to address the Government’s White Paper on Education’s recommendations to launch a new careers programme for primary schools, and extend the legal requirement to provide independent careers guidance to all secondary school children.

The White Paper, ‘Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child’, aims to increase opportunities for secondary school children to meet providers of apprenticeships and technical education.

For further information about the London Careers Festival, click here to visit the website; here to book free tickets; and here to view the Festival’s schedule.  

The City of London Corporation sponsors 10 high-performing academies across Hackney, Newham, Islington, and Southwark, through the City of London Academies Trust. The Square Mile’s governing body is also the local education authority for one maintained primary school in the City of London, and the proprietor of three independent schools.

The City Corporation has been named twice by social mobility charity, Sutton Trust, as the UK’s best academy sponsor for empowering pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to perform above the national average, and the leading academy sponsor for Progress 8 and Attainment 8, which track pupil progress and achievement.

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

For media enquiries, photo opportunities at the opening day, and interviews with the Chair of the London Careers Festival and the City of London Corporation’s Education Board, Caroline Haines, and attending students:

Andrew Buckingham, Media Officer (Public Services), City of London Corporation

T: 07795 333060 / E: andrew.buckingham@cityoflondon.gov.uk

 About the City of London Corporation:

The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile, dedicated to a vibrant and thriving City, supporting a diverse and sustainable London within a globally-successful UK. www.cityoflondon.gov.uk