Print and packaging are part of the solution to the UK’s vocational learning problem

Like all of us, young people encounter printed products and packaging every day. Often, they will interact with dozens of packaging items before they even leave the house in a morning. But how many of them make the connection between those experiences and a potential future career?

For a while, the answer is: Too few. However, there are positive signs that this could be changing. The Government’s plan for vocational GCSEs in English schools is a welcome step towards fixing the bridge between our everyday experiences with packaging and the amazing career opportunities it offers. It is still only one step but Young People in Print & Packaging is here to help businesses, educators, and young talent take the journey together.

A focus for the Government

On 23 September, the UK Government announced plans to introduce vocational GCSEs alongside traditional core academic subjects. This represents just one plank in a much wider strategy to cut youth worklessness, as ministers have also called on employers to provide 200,000 additional work experience placements for 14-16 year olds.

Other measures seem more concrete. On 28 September, the Treasury announced extra funding over two years to extend apprenticeship matching schemes and committed £15m per year to restore the Union Learning Fund in England, which supports workplace training and skills development for union and non-union workers.

As for the vocational GCSE overhaul, initial indications are that some courses could be available from September 2029, although the exact subject list and delivery details are still in the works.

So, what does all this mean for the print and packaging sector? Broadly speaking, it’s a once-in-a-generation chance to put the diversity and opportunities of our industry in front of millions of talented, ambitious, and creative young people. The operators, innovators, and designers of tomorrow may not even realise that these diverse career paths are open to them, and the industry now has a platform to change that.

It’s uncomfortable to admit, but the prevailing cultural narrative about print and packaging centres on grey machinery, cardboard boxes, and soulless production lines. It’s often depicted in pop culture as a tedious job that is either the butt of a joke, or a plot device for a character to break away from. Being able to correct that narrative earlier on in a person’s life gives them more opportunities to actively explore different roles before they choose their next step in school, higher education, or work. Eventually, it will start to tell a new – more truthful – story that young people can relate to their own lives, and which encourages them to develop their own interests as they start their next chapter.

One sector, unlimited possibilities

Our sector offers careers across design, engineering, materials, production, technology, sales, sustainability, chemistry, and more. These all have foundations in core academic subjects that young people learn about in classrooms across the country. A student interested in science, for example, could easily transition into topics around material performance. A passionate young art student could learn design principles, following projects from first sketches through to finished packs.

At YPIPP, we’ve seen countless stories of employers using their own expertise to bring these possibilities to life. When pupils from Connaught School for Girls visited Baker Labels in Brentwood through a Careers Hub East initiative, they toured the factory and got to quiz staff about their career journeys. This opened the girls’ eyes to the industry, but more importantly, to the people and processes behind it.

Our profile of Charlie Vickers also inspires us about the future of print and packaging. Charlie is 23, but has already been working at Baker Labels for five years. He joined immediately after leaving school, and today is responsible for operating two cutting-edge digital printing presses. 

There are millions of Charlies ready to start their print and packaging careers across the UK. They just don’t know it yet. Partnerships between schools and businesses, which organisations like YPIPP are able to facilitate, create those first lightbulb moments when young people discover there is more to print and packaging than they first thought.

Planting seeds of progress

All of this is positive, of course, but it still has to be implemented. That comes with its own challenges, as these ideas must survive contact with reality. How can educators actually reach these young people to teach specialist knowledge, which must also be constantly updated as the industry moves forward?

This is something that should always be kept front-of-mind as the Government’s proposals develop. It’s a question that requires engagement from all parties if we want the answer to benefit young people. Schools can lay the foundations with support from colleges and businesses. Colleges can contribute vocational teaching experience. And businesses can deliver specialist knowledge to educators and hands-on experience to students. It’s all part of a single talent ecosystem that gives work experience its value.

These seeds of progress will take time to grow, but planting them has already begun. At YPIPP, we’re already building relationships, reaching out to educators, and inspiring the workforce of tomorrow – and you can be part of it.

Get in touch today to learn more.