40,000+ Employer Engagement Hours Pledged Within 24 Hours of IndEX Launch

257 leaders from industry, education and government attend national launch at the Old Bailey

More than 40,000 hours of employer engagement have been pledged to support young people less than 24 hours after the national launch of IndEX – the Industry and Educators Exchange.

The launch, held at the Old Bailey on Tuesday 22 September, brought together 257 leaders from business, education and government to support a new national model for embedding meaningful employer engagement into education.

Representatives attended from organisations including Amazon, Airbus, Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Intel,  National Grid, Transport for London, Barclays, NatWest, Arup, Costain, Skanska, Morgan Sindall, Thames Water, Equinix, Tideway and Waymo.

They were joined by representatives from the Department for Education, the Department for Work and Pensions, Ofsted, the Careers & Enterprise Company, the City of London Corporation, and many Livery Companies.

IndEX has grown from more than a decade of employer-embedded education at London Design & Engineering UTC (LDE UTC) and is built around a simple ambition: that every young person should leave education with “Two Golden Tickets” – strong academic outcomes and meaningful real-world experience.

Young people were at the heart of the launch, with former LDE UTC learners sharing how employer engagement helped them build confidence, develop professional skills, and progress into employment, university, and degree apprenticeships.

Geoffrey Fowler, CEO and Principal of LDE UTC and founder of IndEX, said:

“The response has been extraordinary. To bring 257 people together from some of the country’s leading businesses, education organisations and government was incredible, but what matters most is what happens next.

“In less than 24 hours, more than 40,000 employer engagement hours have already been pledged.

“Those hours represent real opportunities for young people to meet professionals, understand industries, develop skills and see where their education can take them.

“Our ambition is simple: every young person should have access to employers and professional networks, regardless of their postcode, the school they attend or who their parents happen to know.”

IndEX is structured around four pillars – INSPIRE, CREATE, PREPARE and EXPERIENCE – giving employers clear ways to support schools through curriculum masterclasses, industry projects, professional skills development and workplace experiences.

The model has already been developed extensively at LDE UTC, where more than 100,000 hours of employer engagement have been delivered.

LDE UTC recently received five Exceptional judgements from Ofsted, with inspectors highlighting its “cutting-edge careers programme” and describing learners as “young professionals” who are “more than ready for the workplace or further study”.

Sheriff of London Deputy Keith Bottomley said:

“By connecting employers directly with education, we can help young people gain not only qualifications, but the real-world experience and confidence they need to succeed.

“IndEX has the potential to make those opportunities available to many more young people across the country.”

The focus now moves to turning the pledges made following the launch into real experiences for young people and expanding IndEX into schools nationally.