Future Thinking has continued to go from strength to strength during the 2025-26 academic year, with 540 Year 9 students from 18 schools across Essex taking part in the programme.
Designed to support students at a key stage in their educational journey, Future Thinking helps young people build the skills, confidence, and self-awareness needed to become more effective learners and make informed decisions about their futures.
This year, we have focused on further enhancing the programme to make learning even more meaningful and relatable. A key development has been the introduction of more locally relevant careers and employment examples, helping students connect learning to real opportunities in Essex and better envision themselves in future career and HE pathways. By showcasing relatable role models and local labour market opportunities, students have been encouraged to think more broadly and more confidently about what their futures could look like.
We have also refreshed the campus visit experience, redesigning activities to create more opportunities for students to actively practice the metacognitive strategies introduced during the programme. This stronger emphasis on recall and reflection has helped students embed key learning and recognise how these strategies can support them both in and beyond the classroom.
The continued growth of Future Thinking reflects the value of combining attainment-raising support with aspiration-building opportunities. We are proud to see the programme evolving each year and remain committed to ensuring it continues to deliver meaningful impact for young people in schools across Essex.
By Annika Burges, Senior Outreach Officer at Make Happen