We’re Springpod, a careers platform reinventing the way young people experience the world of work and university, through opportunities that are accessible, inclusive and insightful.
2021 saw incredible growth, not just for the platform but our team too. We tripled in size and each and every one of us is incredibly proud to see over 300,000 students on Springpod, taking control of their future... and we're not stopping there.
We’re on a mission to provide 1 million students with access to life-changing career and university experiences within the next two years. Take a look at what we’ve been up to in 2021 and how we’ll be supporting students, teachers, parents, employers and universities in 2022.
It’s time to take 2022 into the stratosphere!
“Before I took the course with Airbus I was 70% sure that I would go for Engineering and take that into university, but now, I’m certain that I will carry it forward.”
Louis
If 2020 was a year where we needed to adapt, 2021 has been a year where we’ve had to build on all the changes forced by the pandemic. We’ve had to innovate to keep moving forward and I could not be more proud of the Springpod Team, which has managed to consistently create new immersive learning experiences to support our rapidly growing community of students.
Despite all the challenges, 2021 was a year of significant growth. We partnered with many incredible employers, universities and colleges, tripled the Springpod team, opened our second office and closed a major investment round which encouraged us to rise to the challenge and become the leading provider of virtual career and university experiences in the UK.
Most importantly, our student community grew to 300,000 young people using the Springpod platform from over 4,000 UK schools, with over 180,000 enrolments on our programmes in 2021. These programmes have upskilled and inspired enough students to fill up Wembley Stadium twice over!
I am particularly proud of the impact our programmes have on disadvantaged young people, with 22% of our student community recipients of Free School Meals - this is double the national average. Providing work experience in an online setting removes the cost of travel barrier of in-person work experience and it enables students to get a foot in the door by experiencing top employers and universities so that they can take well-informed next steps.
None of this would be possible without the enthusiasm of our student community, the dedication of teachers and parents, and the forward-thinking, innovative employers, universities, colleges and schools that have embraced and supported our mission.
We have committed to supporting one million young people during the next two years and are excited to work towards this target during 2022.
Thank you to everyone that worked with Springpod during 2021, enabling us to to support and inspire the next generation.
At Springpod, we believe it’s important to celebrate our successes and reflect on what we’ve achieved, thanks to the continued support of our incredible audience and partners. In no particular order, here are our top highlights from 2021.
When the pandemic restricted all in-person work experience, we reinvented healthcare work experience with the NHS & Health Education England (HEE). Over 10,000 students accessed online work-related learning opportunities.
“I was extremely worried about the lack of in-person work experience I have had due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this virtual work experience has put me at ease so much, whilst also enjoying everything about it and learning so much.”
We pioneered the future of live talks by showcasing a live surgery. Students gained a fully immersive experience into a percutaneous coronary intervention procedure as part of the Newcastle Cardiology Programme.
We listened to students talk about their personal views on diversity and inclusion during a partner webinar with the Institute of Student Employers (ISE). Over 3000 student insights feature in our D&I report, download here.
We introduced inclusive future events with top employers to reach targeted demographics in specific industries, including females in engineering and technology.
Our Brand Ambassadors sent us viral on TikTok with over 677,000 views on our Springpod hashtag.
We worked behind the scenes on an exciting new product, set to launch in February 2022. Subject Spotlights allow students to learn more about the degree subject they hope to go onto study.
To get us started, we worked in partnership with Jesus College, Oxford University to showcase their Politics, Philosophy and Economics undergraduate degree. Check out the trailer here.
Over 3,000 students utilised our new Schools Licence product in its first three months, gaining access to career and employment opportunities earlier in their education than ever before.
We released a new automated assessment and feedback tool, which offers every participant more tailored, constructive feedback on their industry-level activities. This moves us closer towards helping schools and colleges achieve the Gatsby Benchmarks.
Students
Programme enrolments
Average completion rate
We launched Springpod 2.0 - an enhanced student experience that improves student communication, personalisation and the way we showcase relevant opportunities to our audience.
We built a community of over 200 leading industry experts who have a passion to inspire, educate and motivate young people about their field.
Our £2.5m investment enabled us to grow, which will continue in 2022 and beyond, making Springpod the market leader in virtual career & university experiences.
With our growing audience of over 300,000 young people, we reached out to students to give them the opportunity to voice their opinions on a range of topics. They participated in panel discussions, completed surveys and most importantly, told their personal stories.
“I began year 12 as a social-media-addicted student and as an aspiring engineer, but after participating in programmes with Springpod, I have transformed into a budding lawyer who has regained her love of reading. Taking part in their law virtual work experience and degree taster showed me that I am not supposed to be a woman in STEM, I was made for essays, argumentative exploration and advocacy.”
“I started searching for work experience opportunities. Due to the pandemic and so many people working at home, it was a difficult mission - there just weren’t any opportunities. So, then I started searching for virtual work experience programmes. But so many of the programmes I found were expensive, or I couldn’t attend because of my school schedule. However, Springpod was different and stood out from the rest. I was amazed at the variety of subjects/occupations available and the flexibility of the programmes so I signed up for the engineering course immediately! Plus, it was free!”
“Springpod is perfect for someone like me and has improved my confidence and character. This is because Springpod creates a world of academia, knowledge and experience that no one can ignore. I always recommend Springpod to my friends as it helps guide them to their end goals, it’s fantastic, you can’t go wrong!”
To find out more about how Springpod is changing the lives of young people, get in touch with our team today.
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