Virtual work experience will become part of the careers education landscape, the deputy chief executive of the Careers and Enterprise Company has said. 

Speaking exclusively to Tes, John Yarham said virtual work placements could develop young people’s awareness of careers and help them gain an understanding of what employers are looking for. 

His comments come a few months after apprenticeship and skills minister Gillian Keegan confirmed that placements for the new T-level courses would not go ahead virtually because the experience of the workplace could not be replicated online.

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Mr Yarham said: “I wouldn’t want to comment on the T-level situation, but I think, in terms of developing young people’s awareness of careers and exposure to them, and an understanding of employers and what they’re looking for, virtual placements are the only way they can do that at the moment. Ideally, you would have physical and some virtual, but there are some fantastic benefits for young people when they take part in virtual placements.” 

When asked if he could see virtual placements becoming part of a work experience package post-Covid, he said: “Yes, I definitely can. I don’t think the future of the workplace will be the same as it was. I’m sure there’ll be a return to the office environment, but it might not be to the same extent.

“With interviews, for example, you get so much more efficiency in terms of some of the initial stages of interviews online. Young people need to be prepared for that.”

Gillian Keegan: ‘Can’t replicate’ work experience online 

Speaking at a Public First event in October last year, apprenticeships and skills minister Gillian Keegan admitted that finding T-level work placements for students was a challenge. At the time, she said that some employers had spoken about virtual placements - but that she believed that work placements could not be replicated online.

She said: “I still remember that factory [I did work experience in] as if it was yesterday. I remember the smell. I remember the people, the environment. You can’t replicate that. It’s a nine-week work placement, it’s an extremely valuable part of the course, and I am certainly not giving up on that part of the T-level experience for young people.”

Mr Yarham said virtual placements needed to be “done well”, and needed to be both personal and have a level of interaction. 

He said: “Where we’ve had concerns is where it’s just playing a video, and that’s your experience. That doesn’t necessarily wash with all young people, and particularly those that may not be that engaged anyway.

“There are some aspects as to what works really well, and some learning that we can build from it. Some of the broader exposure has been great, and the feedback we’ve had has been that it does work, but that’s not a comment on T-levels placements.” 

Mr Yarham highlighted an initiative that the Careers and Enterprise Company ran last year called “My Week of Work”, which was a national virtual work experience programme engaging 120,000 young people and parents. 

He said: “One of the opportunities from those virtual encounters is being able to see employers that aren’t necessarily local to you. There was one young person from near where I grew up in Norfolk, who went to the global engineering firm Jacobs in the Tees Valley, all virtually. They would never have done that normally. I would never have had access to something like that as a kid, growing up where I did. Taking a blended approach can change all of that if we get it right and give young people insights into cutting-edge careers that take them on a journey for the rest of their life.” 

The Department for Education declined to comment.