Bridging the gap between school learning and career success

For years, we worked across school travel, international education, and higher education. No matter the setting, we kept seeing the same issue: young people were making big academic and career decisions without enough understanding of what those choices actually meant.

Students were enrolling in degrees they weren’t sure about.

Some were dropping out early.

Others were graduating into careers unrelated to what they had studied.

We saw universities trying to support them, but the challenge always began earlier — long before applications, admissions, or first-year lectures. Young people simply weren’t getting the chance to explore real fields, test their interests, or understand their strengths before they had to choose a direction. What’s more, they weren’t getting the chance to prepare themselves with the skills they need to apply – and the skills they need to succeed.

THIS GAP BECAME IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE.

We began experimenting with ways to bridge it: project-based learning, employer encounters, skills-focused workshops. And the pattern became clear: when students worked on real tasks, with real expectations and real feedback, everything changed.

They discovered what they enjoyed.

They understood what they were good at.

And they made better choices because of it.

Over time, a shared conviction emerged — that education should prepare young people for the decisions that matter, not just the exams that are timetabled. They need direction, experience, and evidence of their strengths before they step into university or early work.

Career Bridge was created in response to that conviction.

A response to the young person unsure about what to study.

A response to the young person who has never seen what real work in a subject actually looks like.

A response to the growing skills gap employers report every year.

Today, Career Bridge brings together real companies and expert educators to give young people meaningful experiences that shape their choices and prepare them for the world ahead.

What began as an idea has become a programme built on decades of insight and one simple belief: every young person deserves the chance to step confidently into their future academic and professional lives.