The Impact of our National Careers Week event at BAFTA

National Careers Week took place in March, and we held a number of special events tied to our careers programme, which aims to encourage young people to pursue roles in the screen industries. The jewel in the crown of our National Careers Week programme was a special in-person event held at BAFTA in London, and streamed online for those situated around the UK. We received some incredible feedback from the event, and would like to share some of those reactions and insights to help demonstrate the impact of attending special events like this on both educators and young people.

The event saw over a thousand young people and their teachers joining us for special panel discussions and workshops, and was also tied to International Women's Day, another key calendar date that falls alongside National Careers Week.

Held in partnership with BAFTA, the event was aimed at secondary school students, and our objective was to throw a spotlight on the vast range of careers available in the screen industries, concentrating on a variety of roles across film, games and TV, and with a focus on transferable skills and entry routes into these careers. Four panel discussions took place featuring industry professionals, and were moderated by TV and radio presenter Lauren Layfield. An additional element - Teacher Encounters - was supported by Central London Careers Hub, who facilitated the attendance of career leads from across London schools.

"It was a great opportunity to ask questions and feed back vital first-hand information to our students about how to gain experience in the creative fields and help them become more employable", said the Employability and Progression Lead at Westminster Kingsway College, while a teacher from St. Oscar Romero Catholic School commented: "I had such a brilliant day. It really made me think and motivated me to find out more."

"There was something in the talk for all my students, regardless of their area of interest", said a teacher from Alexandra Park School in London. "The range of speakers was fantastic. The group were buzzing on the way home and came away with some excellent advice for the workplace (and for life in general!)."

A teacher at the London Screen Academy said: "The talks were engaging and super informative, students gained quite a lot. Different practitioners spoke about how they got into the roles they did and answered some key questions from the audience. It was also great to see representation from all fields, as there were games designers, SFX coordinators, casting directors and actors speaking, so it appealed to all students."

"My film class were so inspired to go into BAFTA and hear from industry experts first hand", said a teacher from Thomas Tallis School. "The panels were so insightful and generous of their time, providing realistic and valuable advice that I believe will resonate with students throughout their future careers!"

As part of the event, we also conducted a survey, with the main aim of helping us better understand the value of the Teacher Encounters sessions to the career leads that attended, and to provide evidence of successful outcomes and learning opportunities. Over 50% of the advisors who attended responded to the survey, indicating a highly engaged group who wanted, and felt able, to share their thoughts. One response read: "I really enjoyed this event and found it very informative. As a careers adviser, the creative industries is not always easy to access and find out more about, however I definitely feel more equipped with information to share with students and know where to signpost them to find out more about the opportunities available to them. It was a great session and will definitely inform my careers advice."

Key Insights

The selection of feedback above highlights the value of this type of in-person event, and demonstrates that attendees really benefitted from learning about the different roles in the screen industry, and pathways into those careers.

Attendees found being able to speak directly to, and network with, industry professionals particularly valuable, while they also appreciated the honesty and openness with which the professionals spoke about the risks and challenges facing those working in the screen industries. Based on the feedback, it was clearly felt that these insights would help the teachers and careers leads and the young people they work with to make better informed decisions about screen careers. 

Furthermore, we asked respondents to tell us the extent to which they agreed or disagreed to a number of key outcome statements:

• 90% agreed/strongly agreed that they were more aware with the variety of job roles
• 90% agreed/strongly agreed that they were more aware of some of the skills
• 90% agreed/strongly agreed that they had been signposted to a better understanding of screen careers
• 80% strongly agreed/agreed that the event had been beneficial to them in their role as an educator
• 70% strongly agreed/agreed that the event would support their teaching back in the classroom.

The four panel discussions are available to watch in their entirety on the Virtual Broadcasts section of our main Careers page, and there will be a BAFTA film focusing on transferable skills to support a new BAFTA resource, due to be published some time in the autumn term.