The government has promised every young person in England two weeks of work experience before they finish their secondary education [1]. It is an ambition we wholeheartedly support. First-hand experience of the workplace is a critical component of career readiness, developing the confidence, networks, and commercial awareness that school leavers need to succeed. Yet for careers leaders on the ground, the gap between this ambition and the current reality is significant.
New data shows that just 49% of Year 10 pupils currently access any work experience at all [2]. For pupils on free school meals, that figure drops to 42%. For those in the north of England, it is as low as 33.5% in some areas. The reasons are complex, from a lack of employer capacity to geographical barriers and the sheer logistical challenge of arranging hundreds of placements.
This is where the conversation around virtual work experience becomes critical. It is not a magic bullet, but it is a vital part of the solution. This article provides a practical guide for careers leaders, outlining what Gatsby Benchmark 6 actually requires, what virtual experiences can and cannot do, and how to build a blended programme that delivers meaningful encounters for every single student.
What Gatsby Benchmark 6 Actually Requires
The Gatsby Benchmarks define what world-class careers provision looks like, and Benchmark 6 focuses on “Experiences of workplaces”. Following a comprehensive update in November 2024, the guidance provides a clear definition of what makes an experience “meaningful” [3].
A meaningful experience of a workplace, whether in-person or virtual, must:
- Have a clear purpose, shared with the employer and the young person.
- Be underpinned by learning outcomes appropriate to the needs of the young person.
- Involve extensive two-way interactions between the young person and employees.
- Include opportunities for young people to meet a range of different people from the workplace.
- Include opportunities for young people to perform a task set by the employer or to produce a piece of work relevant to that workplace.
- Include the employer providing feedback to the young person about their work.
- Be followed by opportunities for the young person to reflect on insights, knowledge or skills gained.
The guidance is clear that technology can and should be used, stating that experiences can be “in person or a combination of in person and virtual, where appropriate”. The key is not the medium, but whether these seven criteria are met. The two points in bold, extensive two-way interactions with employees and direct feedback from an employer, are the most challenging for purely virtual or simulated experiences to meet on their own.
The Access Problem Schools Are Facing
The challenge for schools is not a lack of belief in work experience, but a crisis of access and capacity. The data paints a stark picture of the inequality that careers leaders are working so hard to overcome.
| Statistic | Finding | Source |
| Overall Access | Only 49% of Year 10 pupils go on any work experience at all. | The Key Group, 2024 [2] |
| In-Person Access | Just 36% of all UK students gain in-person work experience before leaving education. | ISE, 2026 [4] |
| FSM Gap | 42% of pupils on free school meals access work experience, compared to 51.5% of their peers. | The Key Group, 2024 [2] |
| North-South Divide | 33.5% of pupils in Yorkshire and the Humber access placements, versus 59% in the South West. | The Key Group, 2024 [2] |
This is compounded by significant challenges on the employer side. A survey by Uptree found that 41% of companies believe offering work experience is too time-consuming, and over half feel a two-week placement is too long [5]. For a school to meet the government’s two-week guarantee for all pupils, it would require a quadrupling of the number of placement days currently offered by employers [2]. This is a monumental task for both schools and businesses.
What Virtual Work Experience Can and Cannot Do
Given these challenges, it is essential to be honest about the role of virtual work experience. It is a powerful tool for scaling access and preparing students, but it is not a direct substitute for in-person interaction.
What Virtual Work Experience CAN Do:
- Provide Industry Exposure at Scale: Virtual platforms can give thousands of students a window into industries and roles they would never otherwise encounter, helping them to explore their options and make more informed decisions.
- Develop Commercial Awareness: High-quality virtual experiences and simulations allow students to engage with real-world business scenarios, developing their understanding of how organisations work.
- Increase Career Confidence: Research shows that virtual work experience has a measurable impact on student confidence. A social value report by Springpod found their programmes led to a 45% increase in career confidence and a 59% rise in job readiness [6].
- Remove Barriers to Access: Virtual experiences level the playing field, removing the geographic and financial barriers that prevent so many students from accessing traditional placements.
What Virtual Work Experience CANNOT Do (Alone):
- Meet the “Extensive Interaction” Criterion: Without live, scheduled interactions with employees, a pre-recorded or purely simulated experience cannot meet the Gatsby requirement for extensive two-way dialogue.
- Provide Direct Employer Feedback: While automated feedback is useful, it is not the same as a manager or mentor providing personalised feedback on a student’s work, as required by the benchmark.
- Replace the Workplace Environment: The ambient learning that comes from being physically present in a workplace, observing professional norms and building informal networks, is difficult to replicate online.
Building a Blended Programme That Works
The most effective careers programmes recognise that the choice is not between physical and virtual, but about how to blend them effectively. The Gatsby guidance itself encourages a “combination” approach. A strategic, multi-year programme could look like this:
- Years 7-9: Exploration and Awareness. Use virtual platforms and business simulations to introduce students to a wide range of industries. Focus on building foundational commercial awareness and exploring different career pathways. This supports Gatsby Benchmark 5 (Encounters with employers and employees).
- Year 10: Preparation and Placement. Use simulations to prepare students for their first significant in-person work experience. A student who has already grappled with virtual business decisions will arrive at their placement ready to ask insightful questions and make the most of the opportunity. This is the core of a blended approach to Benchmark 6.
- Year 11 and Post-16: Deepening Experience. Students can undertake further placements, engage in virtual employer-led projects, or participate in more advanced simulations that build on their in-person experiences. This ensures they are continuously developing their skills and understanding.
This blended model ensures that every student has access to meaningful experiences, while making the best use of limited in-person placement opportunities. It reframes virtual experience not as a lesser alternative, but as essential preparation that makes physical placements more impactful.
This blended approach is also valuable for training providers who deliver work experience programmes, allowing them to scale their impact and provide evidence of the capabilities their learners are developing.
Where Business Simulations Fit In
At Enterprise Skills, we are clear that our business simulations support Gatsby Benchmark 6, they do not meet it on their own. They are a crucial part of the preparation and scaling puzzle.
Our simulations provide the commercial decision-making practice that is often missing from both traditional education and many work experience placements. By running a virtual business, students experience the consequences of their choices in a risk-free environment. They learn to think critically, solve problems, and understand the financial and operational realities of a business.
This experience is invaluable. It develops the measurable capabilities that form our Human Skills Index, giving students a tangible record of their development. When a student who has completed our simulations walks into a work placement, they are not a passive observer. They are an active participant, equipped with the commercial literacy to understand the context of the work they are seeing and doing. They are prepared to have the meaningful, two-way conversations that lie at the heart of Gatsby Benchmark 6.
The Practical Takeaway for Careers Leaders
Meeting the work experience challenge requires a strategic, blended approach. Physical interaction with employers remains the gold standard and is a firm requirement of the Gatsby Benchmarks. However, relying on this alone will mean many students continue to miss out.
By integrating high-quality virtual experiences and simulations into your careers programme, you can democratise access to career exploration and commercial awareness. You can prepare your students to get the maximum value from every employer encounter they have. The goal is not just compliance, but ensuring every young person, regardless of their background or postcode, has the opportunity to build the skills and confidence they need for their future.
For employers and HR leaders reading this, the capabilities developed through this blended approach are the same ones you need in your workforce. Understanding how the Human Skills Index works for organisations can provide a valuable framework for both graduate recruitment and internal talent development.
References
[1] Department for Education. (2025). Get Britain Working. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/almost-a-million-young-people-to-benefit-from-expanded-support-new-training-and-work-experience-opportunities
[2] The Key Group. (2024, October 23). Less than half of all GCSE pupils do work experience. https://thekeygroup.com/news-insights/less-than-half-of-all-gcse-pupils-do-work-experience
[3] The Gatsby Charitable Foundation. (2024). Good Career Guidance: The Next 10 Years. https://www.gatsby.org.uk/education/programmes/good-career-guidance
[4] Institute of Student Employers. (2026, February 16). When work experience misses the point. https://ise.org.uk/knowledge/insights/534/when_work_experience_misses_the_point
[5] Uptree, cited in Institute of Student Employers. (2026, February 16). When work experience misses the point. https://ise.org.uk/knowledge/insights/534/when_work_experience_misses_the_point
[6] Springpod & GIST Impact. (n.d.). Measuring the social value of Virtual Work Experience. https://insight.springpod.com/hubfs/MeasuringthesocialvalueofVirtualWorkExperience.pdf
