Technicians make the difference

Technicians play a crucial and exciting role right across society. Use our free resources to support your students to explore the diverse world of technician careers.

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How we're supporting you

We know that students and teachers value quality careers information, education and guidance.

We’ve designed resources and case studies to help you inspire your students to consider a technician career – whether you’re a Careers Leader planning an assembly or a classroom teacher wanting to add some real-world context to a lesson.

Explore the resources below, or scroll further to find out about visiting our interactive Technicians Gallery at the Science Museum.

Engaging online activities for your students

What is a technician?

An animated video you can use in your lessons

Watch now

Careers quiz

An interactive quiz to help students find their perfect role

Take the quiz

Technician roles

Discover more about roles, salaries and pathways

Browse the roles

Meet real technicans

Case studies and videos from real life technicians

Meet the technicians

Problem solving game

A fun game students can use to test their problem solving skills

Play the game

Next steps

Routes and pathways into technician careers

View next steps

Free lesson plans and guides for teachers

Make a poster or podcast

A creative task to explore careers with your students

30 mins

Key objectives

Understand the requirements of success in technician roles in more detail
Deep dive into the skills needed for technician roles that match their own interests
Using the information about their life to start thinking about how their own path might connect to a technician role – questions like “What pathways/qualifications could support success in this career?”

Gatsby benchmarks

A stable careers programme
Learning from career and labour market information
Addressing the needs of each pupil
Linking curriculum learning to careers

Download the lesson plan

Run an assembly

A guide to inspire students with an assembly on technician careers

30 mins

Key objectives

Inspire and excite students about important roles that technicians have across society
Make a technician role feel relatable and achievable to a diverse group of students with a wide range of interests (for example those that might have said they weren’t good at science or wanted to pursue a career in drama)
Encourage them to take the steps (in lessons or on their own) to find out more about how a career as a technician might be right for them

Gatsby benchmarks

A stable careers programme
Learning from career and labour market information
Encounters with employers and employees

Download the full guide

Run a careers lesson

Use real technician stories to plan an engaging lesson

30 mins

Key objectives

Support students to explore real life case studies of diverse technicians
Subject-specific follow up discussion: explore how the skills and knowledge from their subject are relevant to the technician’s role
Understand that technicians are a diverse range of people doing a wide range of jobs linked to the subjects and skills they are already developing

Gatsby benchmarks

A stable careers programme
Learning from career and labour market
information
Linking curriculum learning to careers

Download the lesson plan

Write a newsletter

A guide to sharing content to engage parents with technician roles

30 mins

Key objectives

Inform and engage parents about the learning that students are taking part in
Demonstrate that the school is offering a relevant, careers focused curriculum
Get parents’ buy in around importance of technician roles
Encourage parents/carers to continue the conversation at home

Gatsby benchmarks

A stable careers programme
Learning from career and labour market information

Download the lesson plan

Run a lesson using the careers quiz

A lesson plan for using the careers quiz with your students

30 mins

Key objectives

Support students to identify how their interests and hobbies help them develop skills than can be used at work
Explore roles they are matched to, based on their interests
Begin the process of researching specific roles they might be interested in learning more about

Gatsby Benchmarks

A stable careers programme
Learning from career and labour market
information
Addressing the needs of each pupil

Download the lesson plan

Print a poster

Printable posters showcasing technicians careers aligned to school subjects

Download the posters

Print your own technician role cards

Discover 100 technician roles with printable cards to use in class

Download the printable cards

Get your free teacher pack with posters and role cards

Get your free pack now

Help your students find the perfect role

Try the careers quiz

Explore further with a school visit to our interactive Science Museum gallery

Book a free visit for your students

Routes into technical careers

Information about the options available to students at age 16.

T-levels

T-levels began in 2020. There are eight different areas of technical focus, and this will expand over the next few years.

More about T-levels

A two year course which includes a placement in industry providing both knowledge and skills
Focuses on vocational skills and is equivalent to three A-levels
T-level students spend 80% of their time in college, being taught by industry specialists, and 20% in industry

What can T-levels lead to?
Once students have completed their T-levels, they can choose whether to continue into higher education to complete a higher technical qualification (HTQ) or go into employment. The time that students spend in industry during their course will have prepared them for the reality of the world of work and form the basis of a technical career.

T-levels are currently available in the following areas:

Agricultural, environmental and animal care
Business and administration
Construction
Digital
Engineering and manufacturing
Education and early years
Health and science
Legal, finance and accounting

In September 2024, the following T-levels will be added:

Animal care and management
Craft and design
Hairdressing, barbering and beauty therapy
Media, broadcast and production

Find out more about T-levels

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships combine study with training in a paid job. There are apprenticeships in almost any career path students are interested in, for almost any career path, in all industries.

More about apprenticeships

Apprentices spend most of their time at work, with at least 20% of their time spent learning on the job
Apprenticeships are offered at all levels, but most 16-year-olds would enter an apprenticeship at Level 2 or 3. Level 2 is equivalent to
GCSEs and Level 3 is equivalent to A-levels and T-levels
They will work for a company, be treated as an employee, get paid, have a contract and the employer will pay for their college course
Apprenticeships take between one and five years depending on the level of the apprenticeship

At the end of an apprenticeship, students will have gained a formal qualification, usually at a Level 2 or 3 for school leavers, and have experience in the career path that they want to follow.

What can apprenticeships lead to?

A formal qualification
Employment in the career they want
A higher or degree level apprenticeship – equivalent to a foundation, bachelor or masters degree
Valuable workplace experience

Find out more about apprenticeships

Find an apprenticeship

The Gatsby Benchmarks - Good Career Guidance

Find more information on how we support secondary schools and colleges in providing students with the best possible careers education information, advice and guidance on the Gatsby Benchmarks website.

Good Career Guidance