National Grid: Engaging over 31,000 future STEM candidates

The energy sector needs to fill 400,000 jobs by 2050 in order to deliver net zero. This demand is due to a lack of engagement in STEM and engineering subjects by early talent candidates, particularly female students, an ageing workforce entering retirement, and a surge in newly created roles that will set the industry up to successfully meet Net Zero by 2050.

In 2020, National Grid partnered with Connectr to deliver an ambitious 5-year programme that would inspire the next generation of young people into a STEM career. The London Power Tunnel Project targets disadvantaged students in Years 9-13 across South London through a blend of digital and in-person engagement activities.

The project showcases career routes into STEM, positively impacting socio-economically disadvantaged young people, and supports National Grid’s wider objective of working towards a greener grid. Our partnership also enables National Grid to give back to the communities affected by tunnelling works as they ‘rewire the capital’.

By the end of Year 5, National Grid and Connectr aim to engage 100,000 young people. Now we’ve completed Year 2, we’re proud to showcase the achievements of this initiative so far.

Connectr has designed the campaign to meet the needs of both young people and educators, during and post-pandemic, by delivering a dynamic blend of activities, supported by National Grid volunteers.

Utilising Connectr’s candidate engagement platform and wider services, including:

• In-person workshops for Years 9, 11 & 12
• Virtual Q&A sessions for Years 9-13
• Online events across key dates including National Apprenticeship Week and Engineering Week for Years 9-13
• Assembly takeovers
• Resource packs for educators to deliver classroom workshops
• Virtual Work Experience Week for Years 11, 12 & 13
• Digital mentoring support via the Connectr for Candidates platform

In Year 2 of our partnership, Connectr and National Grid delivered the following:

• 12,467 workshops and Q&A sessions
• 4,754 assembly takeovers
• 12,906 Resource Packs for educators
• A Virtual Work Experience Week to 190 students, supported by 12 guest speakers and 10 Digital Mentors
• 1,035 insight events
• All supported by 100 National Grid volunteers

This blended campaign impacted 31,352 young people, exceeding the Year 2 target of 21,960. This means National Grid has already engaged with over 50,000 pupils since the programme was launched and is halfway to meeting its overall target of 100,000 pupils.

And don’t just take our word for it, here is some feedback from those who have benefited from or helped to deliver the work on the ground:

“The sessions were informative, fun, lively, and generally very positive. The students were very enthusiastic about the talk and activities”- The Green School for Girls

“Thanks so much for allowing me to be part of the virtual work experience. It was so insightful being able to share my career journey to young students as well as being a female role model in STEM” – National Grid volunteer