NEXT STEPS: TRANSPORT
Help young people see what's possible.
Two ready-to-deliver classroom sessions that help S4–S6 pupils understand themselves, discover careers they may never have considered and make a more confident next step.
S4-S6
Young People
2
Core Lessons
25
School Places
WHY NEXT STEPS?
Because a young person can't choose an opportunity they don't know exists.
Young people are making some of the biggest decisions of their lives while still at school.
What am I good at?
What jobs would suit me?
What opportunities are out there?
Next Steps helps them work it out.
For some, the answer is obvious. For many, it isn't.
Rather than simply giving pupils more careers information, it helps them understand themselves first - then explore where their strengths, interests and ambitions could take them.
The goal isn't to tell a young person what job they should do.
It's to help them make a more informed and confident decision about their future.
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
What could Next Steps mean for your pupils?
Know themselves
Recognise their strengths, interests and what matters to them.
See further
Explore careers, pathways and sectors beyond the ones they already know.
Choose confidently
Identify what they want to explore and the practical steps they could take.
Understand work
Go beyond job titles to discover what different careers are actually like.
Meet opportunity
Connect with employers and sectors they may otherwise never encounter.
WHY NEXT STEPS?
Explore.
Discover.
Connect.
A simple journey that starts with the young person and ends with a real conversation.
Explore
Your world of opportunities
Pupils explore their strengths, interests and ambitions, then discover careers across the whole world of work worth investigating.
Discover
Your future in transport
Pupils take a deeper look at one of Scotland's most varied sectors - from engineering and aviation to software, sustainability and finance.
Connect
Turn interest into conversation
Interested young people meet the people actually doing those jobs at the Reverse Careers Fair in Edinburgh in January 2027.
JANUARY 2027, EDINBURGH
What's reverse about a Reverse Careers Fair?
The young people come prepared.
Before they arrive
Explore
Pupils investigate careers, roles and opportunities through Next Steps.
They find their focus
Choose
They identify the people and areas they want to understand better.
Industry enters the room
Connect
Small-group conversations start with the questions pupils want answered.
PROVEN APPROACH
We’ve
done this
before.
A successful pilot in the energy sector. Now we're taking it further.
Pupils explored careers before interested young people and their parents or carers came together with employers at our first Reverse Careers Fair.
The feedback? They wanted more time, not less.
“
787
S4–S6 pupils
4.2/5
Average satisfaction
90%
Rated it 4 or 5 stars
4
Schools took part
10
Businesses · 20 representatives
100%
Of companies keen to return
Powering Futures Live
See Powering Futures Live in action
See how we bring young people and employers together to explore opportunities, build confidence and have meaningful conversations about the world of work.
Watch the full video ↗FROM THE TEAM BEHIND THE POWERING FUTURES CHALLENGE
You may already
know us.
Powering Futures works with schools and businesses across Scotland to help young people discover their potential and prepare for their future.
Our SCQF Level 6 Challenge Programme gives senior-phase pupils real industry challenges, fully developed teaching resources and direct business engagement. It is externally quality assured, with a recent review finding a high level of confidence in our assessment and quality assurance arrangements.
Next Steps applies that experience to one critical question:
What could I do next?
FOR SCHOOLS
Big Opportunity.
Small ask.
Two lessons. Everything provided.
Designed to fit around schools rather than create another major programme for teachers to implement.
The core programme
Ready to
deliver
Lesson 1
Your World of
Opportunities
Strengths, interests and careers across the wider world of work.
Lesson 2
Your Future in Transport
Careers, employers and pathways across the transport sector.
Plus
Optional Powering Futures resources, including our Money lesson.
25
school places available
across the SEStran region
We provide the resources, tools and support.
Your school provides the opportunity.
FOR TRANSPORT BUSINESSES
Help young
people see where
they could
belong.
Scotland's transport sector needs its future workforce.
Some of the people your organisation could need may have no idea there is a place for them in transport.
Help us change that.
01
Bring your careers to life
Real person.
Real job.
Real journey.
Let us speak to one or two people from your organisation about what they do and how they got there. We turn those stories into short career profiles for pupils.
02
Join the fair
Better
conversations with
future talent.
Bring people who can explain what they actually do and what your organisation looks for when it recruits. No elaborate stand. No lengthy presentation.
By the time young people meet you, they have chosen to find out more.
Get my business involvedFOR TRANSPORT BUSINESSES
One sector.
Hundreds of
possible futures.
We're bringing schools and employers together to help young people see the breadth of opportunities available across transport.
MAKE THE NEXT STEP COUNT
Give young people a
better view of their
FUTURE.
For some, it will confirm something they already suspected. For others, it could reveal a career they didn't know existed.