The future of the care workforce: Care UK reinvents work experience offer

Care UK is reaffirming its commitment to the future of the care workforce this year, by welcoming an improved work experience opportunity, which is being piloted at their Silversprings care home in Thorrington.

Applications are now open, with a select number of places, where secondary school students between the ages of 14 and 18 years-old can join the care team for work experience week in June 2024. If you are interested, please apply here before the closing date of Monday 29^th April.

Students interested in a separate work experience opportunity in our finance teams can apply here, with applications closing on the same date.

Victoria Cole, Head of Resourcing at Care UK, said: “This new programme has been designed to show students the different types of care we offer, and to highlight how many types of roles are available in a care home. Regardless of their job title, each of our colleagues has the same goal – they work together to provide the best possible care to residents.

We’ll be encouraging students who take part to give their feedback, so we can ensure this experience is as valuable as possible for all future participants with a view to expand the programme across our 150+ homes in England, Scotland and Wales.”

At Care UK, we’re passionate about learning no matter your role or your seniority, everyone has potential to fulfil. That’s why almost 700 colleagues across the company are on various apprenticeship schemes whether they’re home managers, carers, chefs, in our maintenance teams, or work in our support centre.

“We’re looking forward to inviting students into Care UK and showing them how colleagues work to provide fulfilling lives for residents and support their loved ones. We know life doesn’t stop when you go into a care home, and we hope that this opportunity will be the first step in a potential successful career in care for these students.”

On Friday 12^th April, Care UK colleagues will host a detailed live call with social mobility charity, Speakers for Schools, to encourage students to learn more about a career in care. Speakers will cover ‘a day in the life of’ a variety of roles, including maintenance, lifestyle, and care supported by award-winning home manager Tracy Norbury. Students will then be supported to complete individual and group work experience tasks set by Carl George, one of Care UK’s dementia specialists.

Registration for the April session has now closed, but you can view the Speakers for Schools hosted Spotlight call with Care UK here. It has been streamed into more than 1,000 classrooms across the UK since it was recorded last month.

Reviewing how work experience is delivered in homes is the next natural step for Care UK, after launching their Open Doors initiative with the Careers and Enterprise Company in late 2023, where secondary schools and colleges are invited to Care UK homes to explore behind the scenes of a care home and meet teams from across the provider.

This outreach continues to expand through Care UK’s Early Careers in partnership with Careers and Enterprise Company and Speakers for Schools. Early Careers ensures a fair reach to all educational settings, including Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) schools and underrepresented community groups to give them an insight into the care sector and opportunities available to them.

If you are a student, a teacher or lecturer, who wants more information about these opportunities for yourself or for your class, please email experience@speakersforschools.org with the email heading: Care UK.

To explore our current vacancies, you can visit www.careuk.com/careers