Designing Learning In A Changing World

Over the past few years, conversations about education and future jobs have become more complex. We are asking schools to prepare young people for a world of work that is changing faster than curricula, qualifications or traditional pathways can keep pace with.

What has become increasingly clear is that preparing young people for careers is not defined by a single outcome. It is shaped by how learning is designed over time. By whether students are given opportunities to apply knowledge, make decisions, reflect on consequences and develop confidence in unfamiliar situations.

The Learning Architecture was developed in response to this challenge. It brings together evidence from employer research, international education studies and practical experience to explore how learning can be structured to build capability, not just academic knowledge. It looks beyond individual programmes or pathways and focuses instead on the conditions that enable young people to thrive across evolving pathways.

This is not a prescription for one route into work, nor a case for replacing academic learning. It is an invitation to think more deliberately about how learning experiences connect, accumulate and prepare students for real world complexity, whether that leads to apprenticeships, further study or emerging roles that do not yet exist.

As discussions around employability, apprenticeships and future skills continue to grow, we hope this paper provides school leaders and educators with a useful framework for reflection and design.

The Learning Architecture paper is now available to download as a PDF here.