A sequenced approach

Our collections bring together quality assured experiences with supporting resources which you can use together to inspire your students about engineering careers - and keep them inspired.

Jump straight to the collections!

You can choose how to deliver the sessions, collaborating with colleagues across the school, or facilitating them yourself. Some of the sessions could be delivered in class, and some in form groups during pastoral time, it depends what works for you and your students.

All of the experiences on Neon will help your school deliver the Gatsby benchmarks, especially benchmark 4. Linking curriculum learning to careers; benchmark 5. Encounters with employers and employees; and benchmark 
6. Experiences of workplaces.

Remember that all of the experiences on Neon have passed our Quality Standards and are inclusive, show a contemporary vision of engineering, and will help raise your students career aspirations.

There are lots of great opportunities that come with a career in engineering. Engineering and technology solves real world problems and can make the world a better place. Engineers are in demand, they are a vital part of the drive to deliver a net zero economy, and are well paid for what they do.

There is increasing recognition that, however inspiring, fun and informative a STEM outreach activity may be, on its own a single experience is unlikely to have a long lasting impact on young people’s aspirations towards STEM careers. We believe that presenting young people with a sequence of linked activities and resources will increase their interest in a career in engineering, as well as their understanding of the breadth of opportunities that are available to them.

Learn more about how our collections are built here

Experiences are activities which are provided by the 100+ organisations we work with. They have all passed the Neon Quality Standards.

Resources are the posters, leaflets and other materials that EngineeringUK produce to inform young people about a career in engineering. All of our resources are free.

Case studies are real life stories about engineers you can share with the young people you work with.

Getting started

Three collections that will help you get the E into your STEM careers provision.

 

The included Neon experiences and resources will help your students build key skills in Problem Solving, Creativity and Teamwork. The Neon Quality Standards ensure that all experiences we list are linked to the Gatsby Benchmarks.

 

Our research shows that students who attend outreach activities like the ones on Neon are 3.4 times more likely to consider a career in engineering.

Basic engineering careers collection

A collection of free, quality assured experiences and resources that introduce your students to engineering and technology careers over 2 terms.

Suitable for all STEM teachers.

3 experiences 2 resources
View collection

Big Bang Blueprint engineering careers collection

A collection of free, quality assured experiences and resources that introduces your students to engineering and technology careers using the Big Bang Blueprint as a starting point.

2 experiences 6 resources
View collection

Challenging perceptions engineering careers collection

A collection of free, quality assured experiences and resources that introduces all students, especially girls, to engineering and technology careers over 2 terms. The experiences in this collection are all available online.

Our approach

Our research showed that the activities in a collection should include five key elements:

  1. They should show what engineering and technology jobs can achieve.
  2. They should make links between young people's interests and strengths and engineering and technology jobs.
  3. They should challenge stereotypes.
  4. They give young people the opportunity to develop and use their skills.
  5. They should recognise and celebrate those skills.

The Neon team curated the collections on this page carefully to ensure that they contain all of the five elements above. We believe that this means that using these pathways will increase your students engagement with engineering careers.

We have suggested a sequence of how you could use the resources, but you may wish to use them in a different order.