Work Experience DayThe day that closes the Y7-9 employer-led week

Why this matters

The last and biggest of the Year 7-9 employer-led activities: pupils out in pairs on structured observation tasks, back for a whole-cohort debrief. Updated statutory guidance (DfE, 23 June 2026) asks for one week's WORTH of employer-led activity across Years 7-9 - it is explicitly not required to be a placement, and this day is the fifth or sixth activity in that bank, not the whole of it.

Learning objectives

By the end of this lesson

I can observe a workplace and identify three things I noticed

I can complete a structured workplace journal

I can connect what I saw to my own career interests

ActivityActivity 1: Pre-visit briefing

On your own30 min

How to behave at a workplace, how to ask questions, what to look for (people, processes, products).

ActivityActivity 2: Workplace visit

On your own240 min

Pairs visit a host workplace. Structured journal: 5 jobs you saw, 3 questions asked, 1 surprise.

ActivityActivity 3: Whole-cohort debrief

Whole class60 min

Each pair shares one surprise to the whole cohort. Patterns emerge. Connect to careers profile.

Success criteria

How we'll know it worked

Workplace observation journal submitted

One follow-up career goal added to Chapter

Chapter Student Game

Action

Log your workplace visit as a Day-in-the-Life real-world experience

Skills: Listening, Speaking

Write a 200-word reflection on your workplace visit. What surprised you? What questions do you still have?

What's next

Part of the Y7-9 employer-led week (a week's worth banked across three years, not a block). It is the school's own educational-visit process that applies here - trip consent and a trip risk assessment - not the placement paperwork chain: nobody is on a placement. Record host and attendance so it lands as BM6 evidence.