Democratising Work Experience: What We Learned from Our 4-Month Government-Funded Pilot

March has drawn to a close, and what a month it’s been.

We marked International Women's Day 2026 with a launch at the UK House of Lords, and We Job Box is now an official member of the Equity 2030 Alliance, led by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) .

Yesterday, we completed our 4-month government-funded pilot across London, Birmingham, and Bristol.

More than 250 young people aged 14–25 took part, with overwhelmingly positive feedback.

I’m very grateful to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for funding our Digital Futures Programme.

A 50-hour immersive experience combining digital skills, employer challenges, mentoring, and real-world projects, with trackable work experience hours.

Massive thanks to our partners:

Aston University who will be evaluating the programme.

Also to DWP, BMet, Cabot Learning Federation, and more than 40 employers.

And to our trainers, who have delivered digital media literacy, financial education, career coaching, and more.

In my speech at the House of Lords, I said:

Only 52% of UK businesses offer work experience placements.

68% of employers say entry-level candidates are underprepared.

Once you see that, you can’t unsee it.

So we made a decision:

This decade is about democratising work experience, so all have a place in the digital economy.

We’ve now completed our final pilot.

We’re focused on scaling what works.

Picture - so grateful to have piloted with Career leads who really care about their students. Thank you Gemma Larkin for hosting one of four schools yesterday!