BMW targets primary pupils with future careers campaign, includes hands-on engineering experience

BMW Group UK has launched a campaign aimed at introducing primary school children to engineering and technology careers, after research suggested parents are thinking about their children’s future jobs at an increasingly early age.

The manufacturer’s Apprentice 2036 campaign includes The Spark Lab, a hands-on electric vehicle engineering workshop designed for five- and six-year-olds.

BMW commissioned two surveys covering 2,500 UK parents. Among 2,000 parents who had already started considering their child’s future working life, 58% said they began doing so when their child was aged between four and 11.

The most common age was four to six, selected by 30% of respondents.

This contrasted with a separate group of 500 parents whose children are now aged 19 to 24, half of whom said they began thinking about career options when their child was between 15 and 18. Some 38% said they wished they had started earlier.

The research also found that 76% of parents wanted primary school children to have more opportunities to visit workplaces and take part in practical activities such as engineering and technology.

BMW said changing technology was contributing to uncertainty over future careers, with 78% of parents believing artificial intelligence would significantly change the jobs available to their children.

Almost half (49%) said they did not know which skills their child would need in the future workplace.