The Gatsby Benchmarks: how Born to Engineer helps you meet them

The guide is aimed at career leaders, teachers and anyone planning careers education in a secondary school or college in England. It sets out the eight Gatsby Benchmarks as they currently are and shows which free Born to Engineer resources can help you meet them when engineering is included in your careers programme.

What the benchmarks are

The Gatsby Benchmarks are an eight-point framework for good career guidance, developed by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. After nearly two years of research and consultation, the benchmarks have been updated. The Department for Education expects schools and colleges to start using the revised benchmarks in the 2025 to 2026 academic year. The update has kept all eight benchmarks and their titles^[1].

The benchmarks are not legally binding. Instead, they help schools and colleges fulfill their career-related obligations, such as ensuring pupils in years 8 to 13 have at least six contacts with providers of technical education or apprenticeships^[2].

The specific requirements set out below for each benchmark are taken from the criteria applicable to schools, while colleges and training providers have their own versions on the Gatsby Benchmarks website.

1. A stable careers programme

All schools should have a well-organized and structured careers programme, clearly supported by governors, the headteacher and senior leaders, with a trained careers coordinator in charge.

Although a website cannot replace a programme, it can provide some components. The teachers’ page gathers all our classroom materials in one place. The key dates guide lists deadlines for UCAS, scholarships, competitions and summer schools, helping you include them in the school year. A version of Born to Engineer Weekly, our free newsletter, is also available for teachers.

2. Learning from career and labour market information

All pupils, parents, carers, teachers and staff supporting pupils should have access to reliable and current information about future career routes, study options and labour market opportunities^[3]. Parents and carers should be encouraged and supported to use this information.

We assist by providing pathway pages that compare engineering disciplines, courses, required subjects, starting salaries and entry requirements. The engineering salaries guide covers pay from apprenticeship to chartered engineer. Salaries, deadlines and statistics include footnotes with sources and last checked dates. Guides aimed at parents are designed for families.

3. Addressing the needs of each young person

The document states that pupils have different guidance requirements at various stages and that opportunities should be adapted to meet the needs of each pupil, including those who are vulnerable or from disadvantaged backgrounds and young people with special educational needs and disabilities^[4].

We offer options for different starting points. Younger students selecting subjects can begin with the ‘choose your subjects’ option, while those not intending to go to university can compare apprenticeships and T Levels. Each opportunity includes information on suitability and cost, with many free or funded.

4. Linking curriculum learning to careers

In each subject and every year, all pupils should have the chance to learn how the knowledge and skills gained are useful in many careers.

We provide help here with the greatest impact. Our curriculum topic pages collect real news stories from engineering, each featuring a Deep Dive explaining the relevant science or mathematics. These link to topics covered at GCSE and A level. For example:

• Physics: forces and motion, electricity and energy
• Chemistry: electrochemistry and materials and polymers
• Maths: mechanics
• Design and technology: systems and control and manufacturing
• Computer science: data and AI
• Biology: health and medicine
• Geography: energy and resources

The STEM Classroom Toolkits include a short film together with lesson materials on subjects like fusion and combustion, and subject guides indicate the direction that a subject will take, for example for physics at A level and maths at A level.

5. Encounters with employers and employees

From age 11, pupils should take part each year in at least one meaningful interaction with an employer, allowing two-way communication between the young person and employer.

Merely reading about an engineer does not count as interactive since the criterion requires two-way interaction. We offer schemes that do: the ‘I’m an Engineer, Get me out of here!‘ scheme lets students ask engineers questions during live online chats, and The Big Bang Fair includes hands-on activities and careers panels. Our engineer Q&As - such as those by John Wheal, Eleanor Stride, Ebony Allison and Milly Hennayake - allow students to prepare questions before and reflect after the encounter.

6. Experiences of workplaces

By age 16, each student should have taken part in meaningful work experience and by 18 have had at least one more. The government’s guidance specifies the experience should last two weeks: one week during years 7 to 9 and one week of placements in years 10 and 11^[5]. Schools will reform work experience programmes from September 2026 to meet this standard.

We help with a guide for engineering work experience in Year 10 and Year 12 that shows how to find a placement and make the most of it. Free online programmes are available for virtual work experience. The list of opportunities includes placements, virtual schemes and the Futures For All finder.

7. Encounters with further and higher education

By age 16, each student should have had substantial interactions with providers across education, such as sixth forms, colleges, universities and independent training organisations. When considering higher education, pupils should have visited at least two higher education institutions by age 18.

We provide routes pages comparing a degree, degree apprenticeship, apprenticeship and T Levels side by side, helping students consider options between a degree and degree apprenticeship. Students can experience engineering through summer schools and courses like Insight into University, which involves a few days at a university, and Smallpeice Trust courses.

8. Personal guidance

The requirement is that each pupil should have one personal guidance interview with a careers adviser by the age of 16 and another one by the age of 18.

This benchmark requires a trained adviser, not a website. Advisers can share our pages before or after meetings: which engineering discipline suits you?, the salaries guide and key dates for the year ahead.