What is work experience?

While work experience can be carried out online as a virtual experience, our Work Experience Toolkit will mainly deal with all the questions and issues related to providing on-site or in-person work experience for the agricultural and horticultural industries. 

‘In-person’ work experience is no longer statutory in schools, but the profile and importance of work experience has been raised by the statutory inclusion of the Gatsby Benchmarks for careers guidance in education, which came into place in 2018. This is a set of eight benchmarks which have been put together to ensure all students receive high quality careers guidance during their time in education. 

The two benchmarks to which work experience relate directly are:

• Number five: Students should have encounters with employers
• Number six: Students should receive experience in workplaces

The full list of eight benchmarks are shown in the graphic below - click on it for more information about them and the Gatsby Foundation.