Survey of 233,000 young people reveals their top 10 job choices

• Top three job choices for young people in GCSE year are creative industries, healthcare and business and finance. 

• Jobs in engineering, healthcare and construction show biggest boost in interest during time in school. 

• Girls show big increase in interest in science, legal and engineering jobs.   

Young people have revealed the top 10 jobs they want to do when they leave school and how their choices change during their time in education, in the largest ever survey of its kind. 

The survey of 233,000 11–18 year olds by the national body for careers education, The Careers & Enterprise Company, looks into the skills, career confidence, work readiness and job choices of young people in schools and colleges today.  

It shows, when they start secondary school at age 11, the top three jobs young people want to do are in sports (24%), media (19%) and beauty and wellbeing (14%). 

By the time they reach 16, are doing their GCSE’s and making decisions about what they want to do next, there are changes in their top three choices to the creative industries (17%), healthcare – from doctors and dentists to physiotherapists and pharmacists(14%) - and business and finance (13%). 

As a result of career related learning, meeting a range of employers and work experience during their time in school, the level of interest they have in doing certain jobs broadens and deepens. 

Their job choices also start to reflect those industry sectors where skills gaps are most acute and employers are most hungry for talent to fill job vacancies. 

The jobs showing the biggest increase in interest are engineering (up 63%), healthcare (up 55%) and construction (up 50%). 

It’s different for girls 

The survey also highlights differences between the job interests of boys and girls.  

Some of the biggest surges in job interest among girls are in areas such as science and research (up 83%), law (up 77%), engineering (up 66%) – historically seen as more male dominated industries - and social care (up 63%). 

Among the jobs showing the biggest increase in interest among boys during their time in school are construction (up 90%), engineering (up 57%) and manufacturing and healthcare (both up 50%. 

Oli de Botton, CEO of The Careers & Enterprise Company said: 

“This survey gives real insight into the job interests of young people today and how they are being shaped by the careers experiences they have during their time in school – particularly through their direct exposure to employers. 

“When employers go into schools to showcase jobs and help build skills, and young people get out of the classroom to see the workplace of today through work experience, it makes a real difference. 

“Employers get to meet and help develop their future workforce and young people get to see and consider a much wider range of job options, helping them make more informed decisions about their best next step.”