Industrial Cadets Gold Project
Whilst helping students to develop key skills for learning, life and work and inform their subject
choices and future career paths, it allows companies to engage with local schools, raise their profile, inspire the next STEM generation, engage with the future talent pipeline and provide CPD opportunities to their staff team, all within the nationally accredited Industrial Cadets Award framework. At the end of the scheme, students graduate as Gold-level Industrial Cadets, a nationally recognised award that students can use as evidence of their experience and take forward to complement their future applications and career journeys.
THE BENEFITS
The following are some of the key advantages that your school or college will gain from this project, and by participating in this scheme your students will have the opportunity to engage with a variety of industries whilst working on a structured programme aligned to Gatsby Benchmarks/Careers and Education Standards.
Industry-Specific or STEM Projects
The opportunity to work on a real-life project dictated by industry, or choice from our ‘off the shelf’ project briefs on pertinent STEM themes such as the circular economy, the environment, digital automation and renewable energy.
Interaction with Industry Professionals
Teams meet and interact with their very own STEM role model who provides guidance, support and insight into industry throughout the project, whilst strengthening the school’s links with industry.Flexible Engagement – A flexible mixture of physical and virtual elements, from virtual mentor meetings and live webinars to in-school mentor meetings and company visits, streamlines participation and reduces physical event logistics for the school.
Insight into Higher Education and Career Paths
Offers higher education and careers sessions to increase awareness and understanding of future pathways and options available to students, and real experience of university through the residential workshop.
Insight into a Real Workplace
A physical or virtual company tour from your partnering company showcasing key projects and sites provides further industry context and early insight into the workplace.
Skill Development and Confidence Building
Provides experience in presenting a solution in a variety of formats, including a formal written technical report and presentation to a panel of senior industry professionals, enabling young people to express their views on important global issues. It also measures and builds key skills such as communication, teamwork, negotiation, innovation, critical thinking, and problem solving.
A Structured Programme
Captures key learning skills and outcomes through a guided structure and assessment process, project management and a structured skills development workbook.
Measured Learning Outcomes - Meets the Gatsby Benchmarks/Careers standards and aligns to the
Sustainability Development Goals and National Curriculum, exploring science and technology within an industrial context.
A Safe Online Environment
All mentors complete safeguarding training with EDT and can utilise the online environment for easy and secure check-in with students through the project. EDT also ensures that all mentors have current enhanced DBS checks.
Broader engagement - As well as interaction with your mentor(s), students have the opportunity to engage virtually with a wider variety of graduate and professional engineers, scientists and technologists from industry, and higher education institutions, enhancing links not limited by geography.
INDUSTRIAL CADETS GOLD LEVEL PROJECT THEMES
RENEWABLE ENERGY
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
DIGITAL AUTOMATION
ENVIRONMENT
WHAT'S INVOLVED?
Real-Life STEM Projects – Teams work on a project dictated by their partnering company specific to their industry needs, or a ready-made project surrounding a current STEM theme such as renewable energy, digital automation and circular economy.
Virtual Launch Event -
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Attending a national virtual launch event provides an introduction to the scheme, a team challenge, project management guidance, the opportunity to determine project choices, and an initial meeting between student teams and supporting industry mentors.
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Mentors and teachers attend a virtual ‘training’ session in advance to understand their respective roles in supporting the project, receive a safeguarding induction, meet other participants, and ask questions.
Weekly Team Meetings - Students meet regularly with their teacher’s support to work on their project, assign tasks and keep track of progress.
10 Mentor Sessions (10 hours) –
A STEM professional meets your students face-to-face in school or virtually throughout the project, providing guidance
and industry insight. EDT support students on how to get the most out of their mentor.
Company Site Visit - An opportunity for the team to visit your partner company. If they are unable to arrange a physical
site visit, a virtual tour or recorded company material can be offered if available.
A Residential University Workshop - A two-day stay at a leading university such as Cambridge or Loughborough to
utilise their facilities and staff team to create the project model.
Project Assessment - Student teams produce a written report and model of their solution, and deliver a presentation to a panel of industry experts, with the support of a student workbook. Assessment criteria is based on 5 core elements including technical skills, project management and communication, data management, sustainability and the understanding of business needs.
Graduation Event – There will be virtual assessments and graduation, followed by regional events where projects are showcased, awards are presented and student achievements are celebrated.
Administration cost - £385 +VAT for a team of 6
THE PROJECT OUTCOMES
There are four things that student teams should produce, using guidance from a team workbook. Some are completed
together in weekly meetings and others independently.
1. A Written Report
A written report is the most substantial part of the project where teams demonstrate their planning, research, ideas and solutions in detail.
2. A Model or Poster
A physical/digital model that provides a visual representation of the team’s solution and is showcased to industry
experts and graduation event attendees.
3. A Team Presentation
Teams deliver a 5-10-minute presentation to industry assessors at the graduation event about their project and how they came up with their chosen solution.
4. A Student Workbook
A guidance and self-reflection tool for each student to use individually, providing space to track progress and actions as they progress through the project and record reflections.
Check out our university course previously known as Headstart
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT INDUSTRIAL CADETS GOLD PROJECT
"This course gave me the knowledge to be confident that my career plans are right for me.”
— Student