We’re Careers Provider of the Year!

News

Career Connect was named Careers Provider of the Year 2025 at the prestigious UK Career Development Awards last night.

Our team picked up the award at a ceremony in London.

The Careers Provider of the Year category recognises: “Outstanding organisations providing career development services’ and their “commitment to professionalism, continuous development of their team, and adherence to the Code of Ethics to offer clients high quality, impartial and expert careers support.”

Career Connect CEO Sheila Clark (R) receives the Careers Provider of the Year award alongside Director of Operations Sarah Vaughan (L)

Sheila Clark, CEO of our charity, said:

“We can’t do what we do without our people – and I want to thank every Career Connect staff member for us winning this award. We are proud to have some of the most dedicated and passionate people in the careers sector.

“Over the past two years, we have made a concerted effort to grow in reach and impact and develop our research and participant voice work to inform our services. In what has been a challenging time for the careers sector, we are proud to have supported even more people than ever before to access brighter futures. And we have done this in a range of settings – communities, schools and colleges, prison and probation, and workplaces.

“We have also striven to bring together the careers sector, with our first national consultation on the evidence for the power of careers guidance. This is something we are aiming to build on alongside colleagues to help strengthen the voice of our sector.

“This is just the start. We have an ambitious strategy going forward, and passionate people eager to make positive change.

“Excellence in careers information advice and guidance has never been more important. We are proud to be helping lead the way, and we are proud to be named Careers Provider of the Year.”

Sheila Clark, Career Connect CEO

Our impact

We have achieved significant impact across all areas of our work.

In 2023/4 we delivered an additional social value of £8million and came into contact with 97,719 people. Read our impact report.

Our work has included:

Outstanding work in the Justice Sector including completion of the CFO 3 programme, enrolling more than 19,000 participants, and winning awards for collaboration such as for the Discovery Wing programme. Meanwhile, in our contract with Lancashire and Cumbria prisons, we achieved participant employment rates almost 1.7 times the national average within six weeks post-release.
Demonstrating innovative partnership working to achieve greater outcomes for young people, such as the Turnaround Project with Hugh Baird College, Discover Your Future with The Lowry and the Wythenshawe Pathways project with Manchester City Council.
Building strong relationships with schools, colleges and employers to introduce both primary and secondary school pupils to the world of work. This includes the Wirral What Next? Skills Show, and Women in Business workshops.
We also promote excellence through offering the Quality in Careers mark at primary and secondary levels, and innovation through our digital careers platform Get Connected Plus.

Empowering careers professionals

We have demonstrated the impact of our in-house Careers Academy, delivering and funding training up to Level 6, with 19% of our delivery staff actively undertaking a certification delivered by us (as of January 2025).

Delivering local and national research

We undertake national and local research, designed to benefit our participants, the careers sector as a whole and our staff. This includes our national consultation and best practice workshops for NEET commissioners. Our staff Research Practitioner Research Programme has also led to an article on one project being accepted for journal publication, and media coverage of another.

Looking forward with a new strategy and updated brand and values

The award comes as we share our ambitious new 2025-28 strategy to increase our reach and impact even further, alongside an updated brand and a new website with a strong focus on user experience.