Open funds
There are currently no funds open for application. Please check back soon for more opportunities, see our investment resources for more options or get in touch to be added to our mailing list and receive notifications when new funding opportunities become available.
Ongoing funds
Please note: these funds are now being delivered and are no longer accepting applications.
Careers & Enterprise Fund 2018
The Careers and Enterprise Fund 2018 has invested £4.2 million in supporting the delivery of Employer Encounters (Part A) and programmes supporting disadvantaged groups (Part B).
Click below for more information.
We invested a total of £2.5 million in programmes selected by schools and colleges in 35 areas of need. Of this, £1.25 million has been invested into 12 careers hubs, and a further £1.25 million has been invested in 25 disadvantaged areas, with each school being offered on average £5,000.
The following areas are virtual wallet recipients: • Black Country Consortium (HUB) • Cornwall and the Isle of Scilly (HUB) • East Sussex (HUB) • Greater Manchester (HUB) • Lancashire (HUB) • Leeds City Region (HUB) • Leicester and Leicestershire (HUB) • Liverpool City Region (HUB) • North East (HUB) • Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire (HUB) • Tees Valley (HUB) • West of England (HUB) • Birmingham • County Durham • Coventry • Croydon • Great Yarmouth & Waveney • Knowsley & Halton • Lambeth • Leeds • Leicester • Lewisham • Liverpool • Manchester • Medway • Newham • Nottingham • Peterborough • Rotherham • Salford • Sandwell • Sheffield • Southampton • Tameside • Wakefield • Walsall
For Part B, we've invested £1.7 million for disadvantaged groups. The areas of focus are SEND students, Looked After Children and Care Leavers, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller young people. As part of the £1.7 million, £200,000 has been specifically invested in activity around employer engagement and support to improve confidence of both employers and SEND students.
Download fund prospectus (PDF)
Mentoring Fund and Mentoring Extension Fund
The Mentoring Fund is used to support year 8-10 students at risk of disengaging from education. Our Mapping Disengagement research shows that mentoring can strengthen young people’s engagement with education and their transition to work. Funds are allocated to organisations across the country to help them work with employers, providing more successful mentoring for young people. The Mentoring Fund has reached over 16,000 young people to date and is set to reach up to 25,000 by 2020.
Check back soon for more information about the fund's progress and findings.
Download fund prospectus (PDF)
Opportunity Areas Fund and Opportunity Areas Fund Extension
The Opportunity Areas Fund identifies areas in need and gives young people in schools or colleges a chance to encounter employers. The fund has allocated £1 million of investment to the six additional Opportunity Areas; Bradford, Doncaster, Fenland & East Cambridgeshire, Hastings, Ipswich and Stoke-on-Trent. The funding in these areas targets young people most in need of support, including SEND students and pupils at risk of becoming Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET).
The main aim of the Opportunity Areas Fund was to scale up many of the existing, effective careers and enterprise programmes and ensure that young people get multiple opportunities to learn from employers through the course of their education. Since September 2018, the Opportunity Areas Fund has reached over 50,000 young people.
Check back soon for more information about the fund's progress and findings.
Download fund prospectus (PDF)
Download one year report (PDF)
Personal Guidance Fund
The Personal Guidance Fund has invested £2.5 million in the development of innovative, cost-effective models for personal careers guidance in schools and colleges. The funding has helped qualifying staff deliver careers guidance for students. Phase 1 of the Personal Guidance Fund, still being delivered, entailed scaling and developing existing activity and has reached over 6,000 young people. Personal Guidance Fund Phase 2 involves developing new activities based on our research, with delivery to begin in September 2019.
Check back soon for more information about the fund's progress and findings.
Download fund prospectus (PDF)
Download Phase 2 fund supplement (PDF)
Careers Leaders Fund
Careers Leaders are pivotal to the Government Careers Strategy, ensuring schools and colleges meet the Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Careers Guidance. and we have a huge opportunity to support the development of outstanding Careers Leaders in schools and colleges across the country.
In this fund, we support the development of these invaluable individuals by providing clear roles and specifications for Careers Leader training—offering everything from online resources and training courses accessible to all Careers Leaders, to bursaries which cover the costs of attending training.
There are still places available to apply. Please register your interest here:
Primary Fund
The Primary Fund allocates £2 million of investment into projects that build the evidence base to better understand the impact of career-related learning activities with primary school children. The goal of the Primary Fund is to standardise primary level careers-related learning and promote a definitive careers 'toolkit'.
Download fund prospectus (PDF)
Need help? Get in touch at investment@careersandenterprise.co.uk