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Career education programme

The world of work
BGE Third/Fourth Level
A collection of lessons that will support your students and leavers in understanding and embracing the challenges ahead of them after school.
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We’re still here and committed to supporting you and your pupils. 

Building on the success of our 8-week interim career education programme and the positive feedback we received, we've refreshed this collection of resources for you to use with secondary pupils and school leavers. The lessons within the career education programme aim to prepare and support students as they look to post-school life. 

There are activities for each stage from P7 transition to the end of the senior phase. They consist of: 

  • lesson plans for teachers and learning resources for pupils
  • a mixture of hands-on and online activities to support independent learning 
  • supplementary elective activities 

All lessons are linked to the Career Education Standard and Career Management Skills. More information can be found in the resource overview.

We also have more lesson plans available in our teaching resources area or My World of Work Live area and more information for secondary pupils and school leavers.

P7 Transition

Things I like about me

Help young people find and share things they like about themselves and develop a positive self-image. 

Lesson plan  Worksheet 

Career crossing

Introduce basic programming, learn about games development and the careers that characters have within the game. 

Lesson plan  Worksheet

Learn to code - Plastics in the ocean

Young people will learn to code and see what that code looks like in JavaScript.

Lesson plan  Worksheet

New friends

Encourage young people to get online and research who will be going to their secondary school. 

Lesson plan  Worksheet

Website research

Introduce and familiarise young people with key personnel in secondary school and develop coping strategies for change.

Lesson plan  Worksheet

Secondary transition

Introduce and familiarise young people with key personnel in secondary school and develop coping strategies for change.

Lesson plan  Worksheet

Construction - Build your skills

Young people will learn about and develop some of the skills that could be used within a career in construction.

Lesson plan  Worksheet

Animal Me

Animal Me will help your pupils explore their personality and strengths. 

Lesson plan  Worksheet 

S1

My interests

Help young people to identify their interests in and out of school.

Lesson plan  Worksheet  Worksheet (ASN)

Childhood dreams

Review how career aspirations have developed since and during childhood.

Lesson Plan  

Introduction to My World of Work, registration and About Me tool

Introduce young people to My World of Work, create an account and complete the About Me tool.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet ​​​​​​​

Future jobs

Young people will identify the skills and strengths required for future jobs and start to explore their own skills and strengths.

Lesson plan  Worksheet

My skills and strengths

Young people can recognise the strengths they have, think about ones they would like to develop and plan for how to do this.

Lesson plan  Worksheet ​​​​​​​

Using the My World of Work Skills Explorer tool

Introduce young people to the Skills Explorer tool, allowing them to discover what skills they have and how these suit certain careers.

Lesson plan  Worksheet ​​​​​​​

Researching my aspirations

Review how career aspirations have developed since and during childhood.

Lesson plan  Worksheet 

Using the My World of Work Strengths tool

Introduce young people to the strengths tool and explore how their own strengths relate to careers.

Lesson plan  Worksheet

S2

Career shield

Enable young people to think about their school subjects, hobbies, interests and transferable skills.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

Starting your profile on My World of Work

Guide young people through how to complete elements of their learning profile in My World of Work.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet ​​​​​​​

Renewable energy

For young people to learn about careers in the energy sector.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet ​​​​​​​

CMS chatterbox

Enable young people to gain an understanding of the CMS themes and how these relate to them.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

My week of behaviours

Young people will recognise and record their behaviours across the week. They will start to gain an understanding of what is appropriate for different contexts and how this applies to their career planning.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet 

How you see it

Encouraging young people to reflect and develop their self-awareness.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

Tell me a bit about yourself

Young people will interview an adult known to them about his/her experience in the World of Work.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

Exploring qualification routes

Young people will use My World of Work to explore the different qualification routes that are available and think whether they are options they would choose from themselves.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

Updating your profile

Young people will have the opportunity to update their learning profile.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

Choosing your option choices

For young people to know what factors to consider when making option choices and learn how to use the Option Choices tool to support their decisions.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

S3

Knowing myself

Review and record current Career Management Skills.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

Flip of a coin

Young People become aware of the variety of decision-making styles.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet (1)  Worksheet (2)

Exploring qualification routes

Young people will explore the different employment and learning options that available and reflect on what options they may wish to follow.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet ​​​​​​​

Meet the expert

Learn from experts from a range of sectors talking about their job roles.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet ​​​​​​​

Hot air balloons

Young people will do a science experiment to help them understand the laws of motion and then they can explore careers linked to this.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

Networking bingo

Highlight why networks are important and start recognising and developing their own network.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

My circle of support

Young people will be able to recognise the people they have in their network.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet ​​​​​​​

Develop and update your profile

Young people will develop and update their learning profile to reflect current achievements.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet 

Choosing your option choices

For young people to know what factors to consider when making option choices and learn how to use the Option Choices tool to support their decisions.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet ​​​​​​​

Stepping stones

Challenge pupils to think of their next steps and what they might need to do to prepare for future opportunities.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

Senior phase

Knowing myself

Review and record current Career Management Skills (CMS).

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

My week

Young people can recognise their interests across their week and find a strength or skill they develop through it.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet ​​​​​​​

My strengths scale

Young people can begin to think about which of their strengths and skills are most developed and how they can develop others.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet (1)  Worksheet (2)

Using the My World of Work skills explorer tool

Young people will revisit the skills explorer tool, allowing them to discover what skills they have and how these suit certain careers.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet 

Flip a coin

Young People become aware of the variety of decision-making styles.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet (1)  Worksheet (2)

Choosing your option choices

For young people to know what factors to consider when making option choices and learn how to use the Option Choices tool to support their decisions.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet ​​​​​​​

Explore different pathways

Young people will explore the different employment and learning options that are available and reflect on what options they may wish to follow.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet 

Networking Bingo

Highlight why networks are important and start recognising and developing their own network.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

My circle of support

Young people will be able to recognise the people they have in their network.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet ​​​​​​​

Updating your profile and making a personal statement

Give young people the opportunity to update their learning profile and create a personal statement.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet 

Creating and updating your CV

Young people will learn how to create and update their CV.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

Job adverts

Young people will gain an understanding of how to read job adverts and identify the skills/qualities that are required for the position.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet (1) Worksheet (2)

The application process

Young people will gain experience of filling in a mock application form.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet (1) Worksheet (2)

Preparing for an interview

Prepare young people for an interview.

Lesson Plan  

Mock interviews

Allow young people to identify their own strengths and skills and how to present themselves to others.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet

Meet the experts

Learn from experts from a range of sectors talking about their job roles.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet ​​​​​​​

Challenging stereotypes

Help young people to understand stereotypes and to challenge them in their own careers.

Lesson Plan  Worksheet (Quiz)  Worksheet (Answers)

Optional resources

Cyber Security Lessons

Standalone, self-directed lessons for S1-S3 pupils all focused on cyber security. Already loved by learners and teachers, these fun and engaging lessons are web based and require no additional kit.

For further information and to access the lessons, visit Digital World.

My World of Work Live!

As a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have developed resources that can be done at home to help young people better understand the world of work. Each activity has a lesson plan for teachers/carers and a worksheet for the young person to work through.  The resources can be found on the My World of Work Live! page.