Career Connect reaches more than 120,000 people in 2025/26

Our latest impact report – out now – celebrates our highest ever reach and shares powerful stories of people unlocking their potential, embracing new opportunities and building brighter futures with our support.

• Supported 27,790 participants in the criminal justice system to move towards a new path – more than double last year.
• Provided careers information, advice and guidance to 53,000 students across 281 schools and colleges nationally
• Provided tracking and support services for 43,245 young people across eight local authorities, with substantive support provided to 29, 255 young people
• Enrolled 334 new learners on accredited and non-accredited courses delivered by our Training and Development team

That’s a total of 124,369 people who have benefited from Career Connect’s support and expertise.

We’ve also generated a social value of £9.1m, calculated according to the TOMs (Themes, Outcomes, and Measures) calculator, a standardised tool developed by Social Enterprise UK and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO).

Read our 2025/26 Impact Report

Real life stories of our impact in action

This year’s report also showcases just some of the ways participants’ lives have changed thanks to Career Connect’s support, including:

• How our delivery of the Age and Rehabilitation resilience support programme for 18-25 year-olds on probation helped Paul become a mental health ambassador and give back to the community through volunteering
• How Career Connect Adviser Brendan is helping Swinton Co-op Academy to achieve amongst the lowest NEET levels in Salford
• How our Training and Development team are helping Careers Advisers at East Lancashire Learning Group support learners of all ages to take their next steps 
• How young person Cade was supported by the Liverpool Trailblazer team and is now training as a bus driver
• How we’re working in partnership with social landlord Magenta Living to transform residents’ futures

You can also find out about:

• How participant feedback is helping increase engagement with careers support in prison wings
• The contribution our Youth Ambassadors are making to the design of our services and products
• How we have built our profile as a thought leader in the sector, and built an innovative research partnership
• How our approach to digital systems is reducing our carbon footprint

 It’s been a busy year for our charity, where we were also named Careers Provider of the Year at the 2025 Career Development Awards.

Career Connect CEO Sheila Clark said:

“To see another significant increase in our reach makes me proud that even more people are now able to access our life changing services.

“We work in a variety of settings, with people at different stages of their life and career journey, but what remains consistent is our high-quality service that places people’s voices and needs at the centre.

“The landscape is still challenging for the charity sector, but by being innovative, creative, and listening to the people we support, we are designing and delivering services that we know have an impact on individuals, communities and society as a whole.

“Our more than 300 dedicated colleagues around the country make a difference every day. I want to say a big thank you to everyone for their hard work and to the Board for their support and guidance. Together, we are changing lives and futures for the better.”