The Gatsby Benchmarks & industry interactions are now more important than ever

Ever since Apps for Good’s inception, preparing students for an ever changing world has been at the heart of all of our courses.

This has traditionally been broken down into three themes, student driven learning, coding and technology and providing a real world context. Although each of these has been central to what Apps for Good does, a real-world context has become increasingly important since the introduction of the Gatsby Benchmarks which although first referenced in 2013 were incorporated into the statutory guidance for careers from 2018 onwards.

Meeting these benchmarks and providing young people with meaningful industry encounters has been a particular challenge throughout a period where industry professionals have not been able to come into schools and work experience has had to be postponed due to the COVID pandemic.

Although challenging, Apps for Good has made sure that we could continue to provide real-world industry experiences for students both in the classroom and for those who are home learning.

Through iterated online workshops, including our Remote Design App in a Day courses and two and a half hour App Design workshops we have made sure that industry professionals have continued to provide students with guidance and support on their digital products as well as valuable insights into the working world and careers. Industry encounters have taken place via video conferencing software with our amazing corporate partners and volunteer “Experts”.

For our educators this has been especially beneficial in order for them to meet the Gatsby Benchmarks 4, which focuses on linking curriculum to careers and Gatsby Benchmark 5 which focuses on student encounters with employers and employees.

We have also continued to see tangible results and impact from our industry engagement and opportunities, which in 2019/20 resulted in 65% of students who took part in an Apps for Good course, more interested in working in the technology sector & 68% of students more interested in starting their own business. We have also seen how industry engagement can contribute to an improvement in “soft” or “power” skills and over 2019/20, 74% of Apps for Good students reported an improvement in their confidence and 76% of students say their communication and presentation skills have got better as a result of Apps for Good.

As the teaching landscape changes, we will continue to evolve and iterate our industry engagement to make sure young people delivering our courses can have meaningful industry encounters and support from real-world professionals.

To find out more about volunteering or if you’re a teacher who is keen to take part in some of our industry engagement and learn more about the workshops themselves email education@appsforgood.org.