Milburn Calls for Careers Education to Begin in Primary School

Children in England should begin learning about the world of work as soon as they start primary school, according to Alan Milburn, the former minister leading a major government-commissioned review into youth unemployment and inactivity. Milburn argues that pupils as young as four ought to be introduced to different careers, and that work experience should become a compulsory part of the school timetable for 14- to 16-year-olds. His recommendations will form part of the final instalment of his review, which is due to be published in the autumn.

Milburn's central argument is that waiting until the teenage years to discuss careers is far too late for many young people. Although schools already push apprenticeships and work placements during Years 10 and 11, he believes the path towards becoming "Neet" — not in education, employment or training — often begins long before a pupil's sixteenth birthday. By introducing career awareness early, he hopes to widen children's ambitions before negative patterns set in.

Speaking to the BBC, Milburn described the primary school phase as being about "opening their eyes and giving them a sense about what is possible". He suggested that employers could visit primary schools to deliver talks and run taster sessions, giving younger pupils a concrete sense of the opportunities available to them. In his view, hearing directly from people in different professions would help children understand what kinds of jobs exist and how they might one day fit into the workforce.

For older pupils, Milburn is pushing for something more structured. He wants work experience to be mandatory for all 14- to 16-year-olds, with placements taking place in a real workplace and accompanied by feedback from the employer. He told the BBC that mandatory work experience "makes a big difference", and he pointed to worrying gaps in the current system. According to Milburn, roughly four in ten young people aged 14 to 16 receive no work experience at all, while in some schools students are simply told to arrange their own placements — a situation that often depends on family connections rather than merit.

The review's timing reflects persistent concerns about youth unemployment in the UK. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest that 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 were not in education, employment or training between April and June 2026. That figure — close to a million young people — illustrates the scale of the challenge Milburn's proposals are intended to address, and explains why the government commissioned the review in the first place.

Education policy is devolved across the UK, meaning Milburn's recommendations on schooling apply specifically to England, even though his review examines the picture in all four nations. At present, careers guidance is compulsory for students aged 11 to 18 in England, but work experience is not a statutory requirement. The government has already stated its ambition to "guarantee two weeks' worth of work experience for every young person" in England, a commitment that Milburn's recommendations would extend and strengthen.

Interestingly, Scotland and Wales already require career-based learning in schools from as early as age three, suggesting that England would be catching up with its neighbours rather than breaking new ground. Milburn's proposals would therefore bring England more closely into line with approaches already embedded elsewhere in the UK, while going further by making workplace experience compulsory for teenagers.

The proposals have drawn a mixed response. Teaching unions have welcomed the principle of earlier careers education but warned about the practical strain it could place on primary schools. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said primary schools are already under "significant pressure" and cautioned that any new mandatory requirement must be accompanied by clarity about what would have to give way to make room for it. His comments highlight a familiar tension in education policy: new priorities are easy to announce but harder to accommodate within an already crowded curriculum.

Whiteman also pointed to existing schemes such as "Primary Futures", which bring volunteers from a range of professions into schools to challenge stereotypes and raise aspirations. He said the earlier young people can connect what they learn in the classroom with future possibilities, the better — a view broadly shared across the sector. Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, agreed that visitors to the classroom can "enlighten" children's motivation and instil a sense of passion for opportunities beyond school, though he acknowledged that arranging such experiences could be harder in rural areas where employers are more thinly spread.

Parents themselves are divided. Emma, a grandmother from Kirklees with grandchildren in Years 1, 2 and 4, believes primary school is too young for careers talks. She argued that children are already being pushed to grow up too quickly and said they should simply be allowed to be children. Another parent, Zoe, took the opposite view, saying that because work is something everyone eventually has to do, learning about it early means children will not have to play catch-up later on.

Milburn's recommendations will land in the autumn, and they are likely to reignite debate about the purpose of primary education. Supporters see early careers awareness as a way to raise aspirations and break the link between background and opportunity, particularly for children whose families have limited professional networks. Critics worry about adding to the workload of primary teachers and about exposing very young children to economic pressures they are not yet equipped to understand.

Ultimately, the success of the proposals may depend less on the principle and more on the practical detail: how mandatory work experience would be funded and organised, how primary schools would fit careers content into an already full timetable, and how employers — especially small businesses and those in remote areas — would be persuaded to take part. The government's stated goal of two weeks' work experience for every young person offers a starting point, but Milburn's review makes clear that ministers are now being asked to think much earlier in a child's life about how that journey begins.