Developing Skills for a Changing World
Careers education bridges sustainability and aspiration. As industries shift toward low-carbon solutions, schools must prepare students with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to succeed in green careers. Careers leaders and teachers can inspire by linking subjects to emerging opportunities, showcasing role models, and embedding sustainability into guidance and work experience. Equipping students for sustainable futures is essential to ensure they thrive in a changing economy while contributing to a resilient, environmentally responsible society.
What Best Practice Looks Like
- Careers guidance highlights pathways in green and low-carbon sectors.
- Employer engagement includes organisations committed to sustainability.
- Curriculum links careers education to real-world environmental challenges.
- Students access work experience and projects in sustainable industries.
- Staff trained to advise on green skills and future job trends.
- Active participation in careers networks and partnerships to share resources.
Careers Milestones
Integrate sustainability into your careers programme and Gatsby Benchmarks. Ensure green careers are featured in displays, assemblies, and digital platforms. Include sustainability in careers policies and link it to whole-school priorities.
Work with curriculum leaders to identify subject links to sustainability careers—engineering, agriculture, finance, IT, and creative industries all have green pathways. Create a careers map showing these connections and share it with staff and students.
Invite professionals from sustainable sectors to speak in assemblies or run workshops. Use videos and case studies to make green careers relatable. Consider alumni who work in sustainability as inspiring role models or contact Climate Ambassadors to find local sustainability professionals that can support you.
Signpost students to courses and apprenticeships in renewable energy, environmental science, and sustainable design. Highlight emerging qualifications like OCR’s Level 3 Certificate in Sustainability and explain how these fit into career pathways.
Collaborate with local businesses and organisations committed to sustainability for work experience, mentoring, and project-based learning. Use these partnerships to create authentic experiences that connect classroom learning to real-world careers.
Offer CPD for careers leaders and tutors on future job trends and green skills. Equip staff to confidently advise students on sustainability-related opportunities and pathways.
Connect with networks like the Suffolk Sustainable Schools Network and local careers hubs to share resources, ideas, and opportunities. Networking helps schools stay informed and collaborate on initiatives.
Track student engagement with green careers activities and destinations. Collect feedback and use data to improve provision. Celebrate success stories in newsletters, assemblies, and on your website to inspire others.
Videos
This Green Futures film from Suffolk New College explores the growing importance of green skills across all sectors and the role of education in preparing learners for a net-zero economy. It offers practical approaches for integrating sustainability into careers guidance and curriculum planning.
This webinar from the Royal Horticulture Society (RHS) outlines the National Education Nature Park’s framework, resources, and student-led activities for promoting green careers. RHS shares career pathways, school gardening support and employer links.
In this video, WWF present their Sustainable Futures programme which offers free resources for secondary schools to embed sustainability into careers education. This certified course includes teacher guides and training, activity sheets and reflection journals. It also links to the Gatsby benchmarks.
Resources
The National Careers Service offers teachers guidance on green careers, including real-world job examples, transferable skills, relevant courses and free green‑skills bootcamps, a skills‑assessment tool, employer‑sustainability insights, and access to one‑to‑one careers advisers.
Suffolk New College and regional partners provide guidance on green careers through their Green Skills webpage, showcasing career pathways, training options, and county-wide events and projects that inspire educators and learners to engage with sustainability-focused opportunities.
Students aged 16+ in England can join WWF’s Environment Leaders Programme - a Level 3 project‑planning qualification, co‑created with RSPB and Leadership Skills Foundation. It builds leadership and project‑management skills through independent or guided learning and gains students 8 UCAS points.
Eastern Education Group, East Anglia’s largest training provider, embeds green skills across its curriculum to prepare the future workforce. In addition, they offer Carbon Literacy and ISEP courses, green careers advice and free networking events.
Engineering UK’s Transition to Net Zero dashboard equips teachers with data-driven insights and highlights alignment with national campaigns like Green Careers Week, enabling educators to integrate real-world green careers guidance into curriculum and outreach.
