How Unifrog can help you deliver modern work experience
23rd April 2026
Modern work experience is here and there are lots of different elements to it. In this guide, we break down what it is, what you actually have to do, and how Unifrog can help.
What is modern work experience?
At its most basic level, it’s a new approach that makes sure all young people can access multiple high-quality, progressive workplace experiences throughout their secondary education.
It’s made up of the following three elements:
- The two-week guarantee
- The Equalex framework
- Gatsby Benchmark 6
It can be quite tricky to navigate what each of these are and how they fit together. Let’s take a closer look.
What do each of these mean?
The two-week guarantee
The two-week guarantee is the UK government’s ambition that students should have a minimum of two weeks’ worth of work experience by Year 11, made up of:
- At least one week of work experience activities in Years 7–9
- At least one week of placements in Years 10–11
The Equalex framework
This is the Careers & Enterprise Company’s framework for designing and delivering whole-school, high quality, modern work experience activities.
Gatsby Benchmark 6 (“meaningful” work experience)
Gatsby Benchmark 6 is the quality standard for authentic and purposeful workplace experiences.
Unifrog brings these three pillars together in one place. Our tools and resources help you coordinate your entire strategy, making it easier to manage placements, track progress, and deliver a whole-school careers programme that aligns fully with the Equalex framework.
To find out more about how Unifrog’s tools and resources can help you achieve all three pillars, book a demo now.
How should schools and colleges approach modern WEX?
We recommend taking a blended approach:
- In-person activities (like visitor talks in KS3 and traditional placements in KS4) to meet Department for Education expectations
- Virtual Unifrog resources (like virtual work experience courses) to meet the wider requirements of a modern work experience programme
Our key resources to support you are below.
Resources to support the two-week guarantee
| Relevant year group | Resources for virtual activities | Resources for in-person activities |
| All | ‘Careers in…’ Days These are structured virtual workplace experience days combining employer interaction, workplace tasks, feedback, and reflection through webinars and ‘Careers in…’ courses. Find out more about ‘Careers in…’ days here. | Visitor talks Our resource ‘Visitor talk – employer encounter’ helps you host a meaningful employer encounter in assembly or tutor time. |
| Year 10+ | Live virtual work experience Found on the Courses tool, these are employer-led, virtual work experience programmes. They feature live employer insights, immersive tasks, and reflection tasks. Students can take the course at any time, and they can choose to share their details with employers for future experiences. | The Placements tool and the Placements contacts database The Placements tool helps schools and colleges find, organise, track, and evaluate placements. The Placements contacts database is the UK’s biggest database of over 60,000 employers who are happy to host students for work experience. For more information on the Placements tool, check out our Placements guides here. |
Resources to support Equalex and modern work experience
The Careers year plan
A ready-to-use lesson pack for a whole-school careers programme, complete with a mapping tab to show how lessons map to the entire Equalex framework.
To find out more about our Careers year plan and download free sample lessons, click here.
Psychometric quizzes
A range of quizzes designed to encourage students to explore their interests and preferences. These, in turn, help students to generate ideas for their future careers.
Career and subject of the month
A tutor time resource showcasing a new video interview every month, featuring workers in different job roles as well as university students. Watch as a form group, discuss using the provided questions, and print posters for a vibrant display!
Skills resources
Skills resources for teachers
A series of 45 15-minute long lessons that don’t require any computer access. There are separate lessons for each key stage and support students in understanding, building, and reflecting on the 12 SkillsBuilder essential skills alongside Unifrog’s other workplace skills.
Skills resources for students
A tool to record key workplace skills at different levels, with guidance on how to write effective examples for each level.
Guides for each skill on the Skills tool to help students learn more about what the skill is and what it looks like in practice, with guidance on how to use the CAR method to write about it. Each skills guide has an accessible version to support a broader range of students.
Work experience reflection journals
A workbook for students to use before, during, and after full work placements. The journal guides students through tracking skill development and planning next steps.
There is also a shorter reflection journal for shorter interactions with employers – like ‘take your child to work day’ – to help students capture key takeaways.
Interested in seeing how this looks in practice? Contact us to book a demo.