Channel 4 is supercharging its commitment to encourage young people to target a career in the broadcast industry through a new work experience programme and an expansion of its successful 4Schools project.
The broadcaster is introducing an online work experience programme which helps young people match their skills to a potential career in the creative industries.
4Skills Work Experience is a free virtual programme run by the broadcaster and GetMyFirstJob which sets challenges to help people discover their creative career match.
Aimed at people aged 16 and above, it covers some of the most important steps a TV show takes on its way to our screen – from initial idea to securing a sponsor, to deciding when a programme should be broadcast and analysing its success.
In addition, Channel 4 is also expanding its specialist programme, 4Schools, which is aimed at inspiring school students to consider a career in the media industry.
In its first year 4Schools focused on 11 to 14-year-olds with more than 19,000 students from more than 60 schools taking part in 2022. This year, 4Schools will also include 14-16 year olds and include bespoke provision for students with Special Educational Needs.
4Schools is especially focused on reaching schools which have a higher than the national average percentage of free school meals in the hope it will inspire students to explore a career in the media industry.
4Schools’ programmes include workshops, online exercises and talks with industry insiders and current Channel 4 employees on how to set about securing a successful creative career.
Channel 4’s Managing Director Nations and Regions Sinead Rocks said: “We want to reach thousands more school students this year across the UK through 4Schools, students who might never have considered a career in broadcasting. And the free online 4Skills Work Experience programme will be available to anyone, anywhere in the UK and help match their skills with a career in the creative industry and help more young people kick start their careers.”
The 4Skills Work Experience programme is being rolled out after a pilot with250 participants ran in late 2022. Registration is now open for the programme commencing on 1 February.
Danielle Sherwood, Head of Media Studies at Arrow Vale Academy in Redditch, supported a group of students to complete the work experience.
She commented: “In school we can be sheltered from the big wide world; we don’t know what’s out there. We have a wide range of skills among our students, who found the different 4Skills modules interesting. This virtual work experience opens up the idea that actually, so much is created here in the UK. There is so much opportunity and talent here and maybe we don’t explore that enough.”
Work experience helps schools achieve Gatsby standards by providing encounters with employers and employees, and experiences of workplaces.
To help develop and deliver 4Skills Work Experience, Channel 4 has partnered with social enterprise TheTalentPeople which also operates GetMyFirstJob.co.uk, the UK’s leading jobs site for young people.
TheTalentPeople has extensive experience in boosting inclusion in early talent recruitment, and works with schools, colleges, training providers and a host of major employers nationwide.
Participants have six weeks to complete all five work experience modules, which can begin between 1st February and 10th March. The timer starts once you begin the first module.
4Skills Work Experience is open to anyone aged 16 or older. For more details and to register visit https://4skillsworkexperience.com/
Last year 4Skills generated more than 23,000 training, development and learning opportunities for people across the UK, focusing on people from underrepresented groups. It delivered more than 4,000 career progression opportunities through fast track schemes, bursaries, training and mentoring and more than 200 paid entry level roles including internships, apprenticeships and production training schemes.
4Skills invests £5m in training, development and learning opportunities annually and this will double to £10m by 2025.