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Career Ready Impact Report 2025

Career Ready's 2025 Impact Report sets out the difference its programme made for young people from under-represented backgrounds across the UK, working with a network of employers and volunteers to provide mentoring, paid internships, masterclasses and workplace visits that help young people develop skills, grow their confidence and find the right career path. The report presents the year's reach, outcomes for students and alumni, and the contribution of partner employers and schools.

Report snapshot
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About

Career Ready is a UK social mobility charity that connects employers with schools and colleges to give young people from under-represented backgrounds mentoring, paid internships and employability skills.

Key Metrics

3,319 young people supported on the programme in 2025
1,189 paid internships in summer 2025
98% of 2024 alumni in education, work or an apprenticeship 12 months after the programme

Key Outcomes

  • Young people gained employability skills and workplace experience
  • Confidence and career awareness improved through mentoring and internships
  • Employer volunteers engaged across the UK

Geography

UK-Wide

Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
440,000+ young people aged 4-18 active members across 7,000 Groups
Key Metric 2
140,000 volunteers supporting the movement across the UK
Key Metric 3
373 Sections opened or re-energised in England between April 2024 and March 2025
0.3% overall growth in young people (ages 4-18), driven by 31% increase in Squirrel Scouts (5,200 young people)
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
55,000 foster carers and 370 fostering service providers as members across the UK
Key Metric 2
45 new Fostering Friendly Employers recruited, bringing the scheme to over 680,000 employees across the UK
Key Metric 3
95 Fostering Wellbeing Pioneers in Wales offering peer support and mentoring to fellow foster carers
191 children and young people engaged in outdoor adventure weeks through the Fostering Attainment and Achievement programme in Northern Ireland
Impact Snapshot
100,000+
pupils across the UK reached by Primary Engineer's engineering education programmes in 2025–26
289
trainees (106 women, 183 men) supported by Build It International to complete construction skills training in Zambia in 2025
1,300+
families reached across 40 farming communities in Kailahun, Sierra Leone, by Action on Poverty
upReach Associates are 44% more likely to secure skilled employment than their peers from similar backgrounds.
Impact Snapshot
69%
of child and family-related national policy documents published April 2025 to March 2026 referenced Foundations' work
44%
of local authorities use Foundations' evidence, tools and resources in their day-to-day work (Department for Education national survey)
8
new impact evaluations launched in 2025/26, including two full-scale randomised controlled trials of domestic abuse recovery programmes
Nine Partner Places, one in each region of England, now receive direct funding and hands-on support to embed evidence-led practice through the new Evidence into Practice programme