Alan Milburn urges careers learning in primary schools and mandatory work experience

Alan Milburn, who is leading a government-commissioned review of young people and work, said on 30 September that children in England should learn about careers from the start of primary school and that work experience should become mandatory for 14- to 16-year-olds. The proposals would change how schools and employers introduce pupils to working life, but they are recommendations awaiting his final report, not requirements already in force.

Milburn told the BBC that employers could visit primary schools to talk about their jobs and offer taster sessions. For older pupils, he wants placements in real workplaces, with feedback from employers. His stated aim for younger children is to broaden their sense of the careers that might be possible, rather than ask them to choose a job at primary-school age.

What Milburn proposes for primary schools

The starting point would be the earliest years of primary school, including children as young as four. Milburn told the BBC: ‘In primary school, it's really about opening their eyes and giving them a sense about what is possible.’ He suggested that employers could come into schools and describe what they do and what opportunities exist.

The proposal places a role on employers as well as teachers. Talks and taster sessions would give pupils contact with people doing different kinds of work. The BBC reported Milburn's argument that the path towards being outside education, employment or training can begin before a young person turns 16, which is why he wants careers learning to begin earlier.

How work experience would change for teenagers

For pupils aged 14 to 16, Milburn wants work experience to be mandatory and based in an actual workplace, with an employer giving feedback. He told the BBC that about four in ten people in that age group get no work experience at all. That figure is his reported estimate; the available material does not independently establish its underlying calculation.

Milburn also described an uneven route into placements. Some pupils, he said, are told to arrange their own work experience, making access depend on their parents' contacts. A mandatory scheme would therefore have to address how pupils obtain places, as well as whether schools offer the opportunity on paper.

At present, careers guidance must be offered to students aged 11 to 18 in England, according to the BBC, but work experience is not statutory. The BBC also reported the government's stated vision of guaranteeing two weeks of work experience for every young person in England. Milburn's call for mandatory placements is a recommendation within that wider debate, rather than an announcement that the guarantee has been enacted.

Why the review is examining young people and work

The Department for Work and Pensions says the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions commissioned Milburn to examine the rise in the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training, often described as NEET. The department describes a two-phase review: a discovery phase diagnosing the problem, followed by a solution phase exploring possible reforms.

The department published the interim report covering the discovery phase on 28 May 2026 and last updated its publication page on 10 August. That report supplies context for Milburn's work; it is not the final set of recommendations on careers learning and placements. The BBC said the final instalment was expected in autumn 2026.

The scale of the wider issue is substantial. Citing the Office for National Statistics, the BBC reported that 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 in the UK were not in education, employment or training between April and June 2026. That estimate describes the situation the review is examining. It does not show that earlier careers talks or mandatory placements would reduce the total.

What school leaders and parents said

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, welcomed the value of connecting school learning with future opportunities but warned that primary schools already face ‘significant pressure’. If new duties become mandatory, he said, policymakers should explain what might give way to make room for them.

Whiteman pointed to Primary Futures, an existing programme that brings volunteers from different professions into schools to challenge stereotypes and raise aspirations. Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said classroom visitors could motivate children, while warning that finding opportunities could be more difficult in rural areas.

Parents interviewed by the BBC differed. Emma, a grandmother from Kirklees, said primary school was too young to focus on careers and that children should have room to be children. Another parent, Zoe, supported introducing the subject early because work is something children will eventually encounter. Their responses show the question schools would face if careers learning expanded into the earliest years.

What happens before any policy change

Milburn's final recommendations had not been published when he spoke to the BBC. The published DWP material sets out the review's phases, while his interview describes proposals he expects to put forward. The available sources establish no decision to adopt those proposals or timetable for making placements mandatory. The final report will clarify their precise form; any change to requirements in England would still need a government decision.