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The Festival of Engineering 2024 programme has been designed to support all eight Gatsby Benchmarks, providing high-quality information on STEM career pathways.
The festival supports Gatsby Benchmarks, providing high-quality information on STEM career pathways, employer opportunities and direct encounters with role models and potential future employers. Students will gain first-hand experience of our labs and other working environments, showcasing engineering as a desirable and achievable career for all. The festival aims to empower young people to feel that a STEM career is for them; highlighting the importance of STEM with real-world applications connected to their everyday life and the use of STEM in any chosen career.
Young people attending the festival will have many opportunities to gain insight into various career pathways, ranging from apprenticeships to university courses. They will get to ask questions and build connections and networks. Careers and future skills workshops and personalised guidance are provided to teachers and school careers advisors, offering advice and guidance to meet the student's individual needs.
The Festival of Engineering supports all eight of the Gatsby benchmarks:
A Stable Careers Programme (Benchmark 1)
The festival supports, as an informative part of a school stable careers programme, by providing inspiring careers talks and activities for young people to help them make more informed career decisions
Learning from Career and Labour Market Information (Benchmark 2)
Providing high-quality careers and labour market information about STEM career pathways and opportunities from employers, to every young person attending the festival
Addressing the needs of each student (Benchmark 3)
Addressing the needs of each student by challenging stereotypes and raising aspirations to showcase that engineering-related careers and roles are achievable and desirable. Career option for every young person from all walks of life.
Linking curriculum learning to careers (Benchmark 4)
Linking curriculum learning to careers, highlighting the importance of STEM, real-world context and use of STEM in any chosen career. The festival’s interactive experiences link directly to the STEM curriculum, showcasing the real-world application of STEM subjects and routes into a career in engineering.
Encounters with employers and employees (Benchmark 5)
Encounters with employers, helping to develop links with potential employers. Demonstrations and presentations from engineers and STEM professionals at UCL, as well as talks and lectures by industry experts, provide direct encounters with role models and potential future employers. This allows students to gain insights into different career paths, ask questions and build networks.
Experiences of workplaces (Benchmark 6)
Experiences of workplaces is supported by the festival, giving students first-hand experience of lab and other working environments. Exhibitions and interactive activities provide a taste of what it's like to work in STEM-related roles. This can help students understand the daily realities of different careers and make informed decisions about their future pathways.
Encounters with further and higher education (Benchmark 7)
Encounters with further and higher education by attending the Festival, young people will have many opportunities to gain insight into career pathways, from apprenticeships to university courses, highlighting entry requirements and inspiring young people that these opportunities are for them.
Personal guidance (Benchmark 8)
Personal guidance is supported by the festival by providing in-depth careers and future skills guidance to school careers advisors that can be embedded into the advice and guidance offered by the school to meet the student's individual needs.
Further information on Gatsby Benchmarks can be found at https://www.gatsby.org.uk/