To ask the Minister of Education, further to the findings of the April 2025 report Drawing the Future, to detail any actions he is taking to increase awareness of apprenticeships among children and young people.

The “Drawing the Future: Exploring the Career Aspirations of Children in Northern Ireland” report was launched on 29 January 2025.

The study examined the career aspirations of children aged 7-11 years old in Northern Ireland. It considered how their aspirations are shaped by gender, location, and socio-economic deprivation; compared children’s aspirations with current and projected market demands and the future needs of the economy; and investigated who and what is influencing their choices.

The programme provides an opportunity for primary school pupils to engage directly with inspirational role models, providing them with a more accurate picture of the world of work and details of routes into employment. Events held in May and June involved 1,116 pupils from 31 schools and featured employees, employers and entrepreneurs from various fields such as publishing, law, horticulture, broadcasting, marine engineering, web design, charity leadership, translation, and air traffic control.

While the programme does not focus specifically on apprenticeships the conversation may develop incidentally with some of the volunteers presenting to the pupils where they have completed apprenticeships and share this experience during the sessions.

As set out in the joint Careers Action Plan, published in June 2025, a number of other actions are also being progressed to ensure that students are provided with high quality, relevant information. This includes increased sharing of careers resources and bulletins and roadshow events in Area Learning Community areas to share labour market focussed insights. Information about apprenticeships has been included in both the bulletins and the careers roadshow.