STEM CareersBigger, weirder and better paid than you have been told
What STEM actually means
Science - why things behave the way they do. Labs, yes. Also rivers, food, medicines, forensics, weather. Technology - anything that runs on code or data. Games, banking, the NHS booking system, your bus timetable. Engineering - making things work and keeping them working. Bridges, turbines, prosthetic limbs, stage rigs. Maths - the part hiding inside all three, plus insurance, logistics and sport analytics. STEM is not a subject. It is roughly a third of every workplace you will ever walk into.
Ten STEM jobs nobody mentioned
• Wind turbine technician - climbs 100m, fixes the blade, earns well • Forensic scientist - the lab work behind a court case • Live sound engineer - the reason the band sounds good • Water network technician - finds the leak under the village • Prosthetist - designs and fits artificial limbs • Games physics programmer - makes the car crash feel right • Food scientist - invents the crisp flavour, then keeps it safe • Rail signalling engineer - stops two trains meeting • Meteorologist - the Met Office forecast you complain about • Veterinary nurse - anaesthetics, bloods, surgery support
The jobs are moving
652,100UK green jobs in 2024
+153.9%growth in renewables since 2015
£43,076average net-zero salary
Four myths, four corrections
What people say
"STEM means a lab coat and a windowless room." "You need A* in maths or forget it." "You have to go to university." "It is all men."
What is actually true
Most STEM workers are outdoors, on site, on a stage or in a hospital. Most engineering apprenticeships ask for grade 4-5 in maths and science. Degree apprenticeships get you the same qualification while being paid. It has been unevenly male, which is exactly why employers are chasing everyone else now.
“
I thought engineering meant a factory. I spend half my week outside with a tablet working out why a village lost water pressure at four in the morning. Nobody at school told me that job existed.
- Water network engineer, six years in the industry
STEM is a team sport
One MRI scan needs: a radiographer to run it, a physicist to calibrate it, an engineer to maintain it, a software developer for the imaging, a data analyst tracking waiting times, and an apprentice technician learning all of it. One stadium concert needs: structural engineers on the rig, acoustics on the sound, electricians on the power, and a network engineer keeping 40,000 phones online. Nobody in either list did the same qualifications. All of them are STEM.
What employers are asking for
82%of UK job adverts want digital skills
£39,039UK median full-time salary
60,350degree apprenticeship starts, 2024/25
“
I finish my degree next year with no tuition debt and four years of experience on my CV. My mates at university are on their second year of essays. We will end up in the same room - I will just have been paid to get there.
- Degree apprentice, aerospace manufacturing, year three
How you actually get in
1
Keep maths and at least one science serious until Year 11 - grade 4-5 opens most doors
2
Pick your Post-16 route: A Levels, a T Level in engineering, science or digital, or an apprenticeship
3
Get one workplace experience - a visit, a day of shadowing, a summer scheme
4
Build one piece of evidence: a project, a repair, a bit of code, a STEM club
5
Apply: GOV.UK Find an Apprenticeship, UCAS, or straight to local employers
6
Start as a technician, apprentice or graduate - then keep training, because everyone does
Where the STEM jobs actually are
Offshore wind - Humber, Teesside, East Anglia Nuclear - Somerset, Suffolk, Cumbria Aerospace - Bristol, Broughton, Derby Motorsport - Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire Pharmaceuticals - Cambridge, Stevenage, Macclesfield Semiconductors - South Wales Rail - Derby, Crewe, York Healthcare, water, energy and construction - everywhere, including here
ActivityThirty seconds, turn to the person next to you
Whole class3 min
Turn to the person next to you and answer two questions out loud. 1. Name one job from this assembly you had never heard of before today. 2. Name one thing you are already good at that would be useful in that job - being calm, being precise, spotting patterns, fixing things, explaining things. We will take four answers from the room.
Discussion
Questions worth asking
1Which of the ten jobs would you actually want to try for a day, and why that one?
2What would stop someone in this room from going for a STEM career - and is that reason real?
3Who do you know who works in a STEM job? Have you ever asked them what they actually do all day?
Three things before Friday
1
Ask one adult you know what maths or science they use at work - and listen to the answer
2
Look up one job from this assembly on the National Careers Service website: pay, entry route, day-to-day
3
Come to the careers office and put your name down for the next employer visit
One last question
Hands up if you think you are a STEM person. Look around. Nobody is born a STEM person. People become one because somebody showed them a job they had never heard of, and they were curious enough to look it up. That happened to you today. The careers office is open at break. Bring the job you looked up.