Pilot programme for spring 2027: free for our first five schools. Apply for a pilot place
Work experience evidence for UK secondary schools

Every hour of work experience, verified.

Pupils log placements from their phone. Employers confirm the hours with one tap. Your careers team sees who is falling behind, and your Gatsby Benchmark 6 evidence builds itself.

Free for the spring term for our first five pilot schools. Hosted in the UK.

EarlyRoot18:40
Hi Dan, Priya from Hillside School logged 30 hours with you, 1 to 5 March. Are they right?
Confirm hours
Priya S.
Year 10 · 10F · Hillside School
30hours
Hartley & Co · Engineering1 to 5 March
  1. Logged by Priya
    Fri 5 Mar, 18:04 · timesheet photo attached
  2. Confirmed by Dan Hughes, supervisor
    Fri 5 Mar, 18:42 · one tap, by text
  3. Approved by Ms Clarke, careers lead
    Mon 8 Mar, 08:15
Verified and locked Example record
7 to 13Every year group, with simpler screens for younger pupils
1 tapFor an employer to confirm hours. No account, no password
<1 minFor a pupil to log a placement from their phone
£799A year, locked. Unlimited staff and no per-pupil fees
The problem

Two weeks of work experience for every pupil. One careers leader. One spreadsheet.

Schools are expected to give every pupil real experience of work, and to prove it. Today that proof lives in paper forms, inboxes and a spreadsheet only one person understands.

Years 7 to 9

Employer-led activities

Visits, talks and tasks set in real workplaces, logged for a whole group or one pupil at a time.

Years 10 and 11

Real placements

At least one placement in a real workplace, split across employers and days when that works better.

The evidence

If it is not recorded, it did not happen.

Judged through Gatsby Benchmark 6 and Ofsted. EarlyRoot keeps the record and the proof behind it.

How it works

Four steps. Only one of them needs you.

The pupil, the employer and your team each do one small thing. EarlyRoot joins them into one record you can trust.

Log a placement
Takes about a minute
EmployerHartley & Co
SupervisorDan Hughes · 07700 900123
Dates and hours1 to 5 March · 30 hours
What did you learn?How a part goes from a drawing to the finished piece, and that Hartley takes apprentices at 16.
Send to Dan to confirm
Messages
From EarlyRoot
Hi Dan, Priya from Hillside School logged 30 hours with you, 1 to 5 March. Are they right? earlyroot.co.uk/c/7F3K
PupilPriya, Year 10
Dates1 to 5 March
Hours30
Yes, confirm 30 hours
Something is wrong
Review queue
4 waiting for you
Priya S. · 10FEmployer confirmed
Hartley & Co · 1 to 5 March · 30 hours
Approve
Send back
Kofi B. · 12AConfirmed
Maya T. · 10CConfirmed
Reuben A. · 10AConfirmed
Benchmark 6
Spring term report
Year 11 with a verified placement82%
Year 10 on track60%
Year 13 further experience80%
Behind every number142 records, each confirmed by an employer and approved by staff
Download for governors
The product

Built to prove it, not just record it.

A whole-school view for your careers team. See who is on track, who is at risk and who has not started, months before the deadline.

app.earlyroot.co.uk/hillside/overview

Year 11 · Spring term

Example school
142on track
23at risk
9not started
At the current pace, 23 pupils will miss their placement before July. You will see this in February, not in the week of your review.
Pupils with a verified placement, week by week142 of 174
Needs attention4 of 32
Tom R.11A · No placement booked
Not started
Aisha K.11C · 12 of 30 hours
At risk
Leah M.11D · 18 of 30 hours
At risk
Jordan P.11B · Waiting for employer
Chasing

Verified at source

Hours are confirmed by the person who supervised them, with a time stamp you can show an inspector.

Warnings, not surprises

See who will miss the target months before the deadline, with one weekly summary instead of an email for every event.

Every pupil, fairly

Spot which groups are getting fewer or weaker placements, and act before the gap widens.

Works with what you have

Keep your current careers platform. Pupils sign in with the school's Microsoft or Google account.

The record

What an inspector sees.

Every placement becomes one record with a name, a time and a signature at each step. Once it is verified, nobody can quietly change it.

  • 1

    Logged by the pupil

    Dates, hours, a short reflection, and a photo or PDF if they have one.

  • 2

    Confirmed by the employer

    The supervisor confirms by a one-tap link. We record who, how and when.

Placement record

Verified
1
Priya S. logged 30 hoursHartley & Co · 1 to 5 March · reflection and timesheet photo
2
Dan Hughes confirmedSupervisor · by text to 07700 900123 · Fri 5 Mar, 18:42
3
Ms Clarke approvedCareers lead · Mon 8 Mar, 08:15
4
LockedAny change needs a new entry, and that is logged too
ER-7F3K-2291Counts towards Benchmark 6
  • 3

    Approved by your team

    A named member of staff checks it, or sends it back to the pupil with a note.

  • 4

    Locked for good

    A permanent audit trail, one click away from any number in any report.

Why EarlyRoot

Built for how schools actually work.

Most platforms record what a pupil says happened. EarlyRoot proves it, and costs less.

AreaTypical platformEarlyRoot
Year groupsMainly Year 9 upwardsYear 7 to 13, with simpler screens for younger pupils
VerificationStaff approve the pupil's own entryThe employer confirms first, then staff approve. Every step shows who and when
Staff accountsCapped at a handfulUnlimited, with roles for tutors and heads of year
Signing inPupils register in a lessonSchool Microsoft or Google sign-in. Nobody registers
NotificationsAn email for every eventOne daily or weekly summary, plus urgent alerts
ReportsA spreadsheet with automatic scoresEvery number opens the evidence behind it. PDF, Excel and Compass+
PriceA set-up fee, then a higher yearly priceFrom £799 a year, locked
Pricing

One price. It stays that price.

No jump in year two, no limit on staff accounts and no charge per pupil.

Starter

£799a year

The full evidence loop

  • Pupil logging on any phone
  • Employer confirmation by text or email
  • One-tap approvals for staff
  • On-track warnings for every year group
  • Gatsby Benchmark 6 report
  • Unlimited staff accounts
Book a demo

Premium

£1,599a year

Everything in Growth, plus

  • Placement gaps by pupil group
  • A named success manager
  • A termly review with your leadership team
  • Apprenticeship events and mentoring
Book a demo

Pilot schools use EarlyRoot free for the spring term 2027. Our first ten paying schools keep their price for three years.

About us

Two brothers. Two routes.

We have both made the choice every Year 11 faces, and taken different paths. We built EarlyRoot so every pupil sees both routes early, with real experience behind them.

SAShoibe AyamThe university route

Studied at the University of Southampton, then moved into quantitative trading in London. Builds the product and the forecasting behind it.

AAAryan AyamThe apprenticeship route

Went from A levels straight into work and a degree apprenticeship, earning a degree with no debt. Works with every school we support.

Trust and data

Safe with children's data.

Built for schools from the first line of code. Private by default, and only the data we need.

Hosted in the UK

Pupil data stays in UK data centres, encrypted in storage and in transit.

Your school stays in control

A data processing agreement with every school. You own the data; we process it for you.

Designed for young people

Built to the ICO Children's Code: private by default, and only the data we need.

Employers see the minimum

A first name, the dates and the hours. No messaging between employers and pupils.

No location tracking

We never track where a pupil is. Hours are confirmed by a person, not a phone.

Nothing sold, ever

No adverts, no data sales and no third-party tracking.

Questions

Questions careers leaders ask.

Something else on your mind? We visit schools in Bristol, London and Reading.

Do we have to replace our careers platform?

No. EarlyRoot works alongside it. Keep your current platform for careers guidance and use EarlyRoot for work experience evidence.

What if an employer does not reply?

They get a reminder by text and email. If they still do not confirm, a member of staff can approve the hours with a note, and the record shows that.

How long does setup take?

Most schools are running in a day. Upload a list of pupils, invite your staff and share the sign-in link. Year groups roll over by themselves every September.

Which year groups does it cover?

Years 7 to 13: group activities for younger pupils, and individual placements from Year 10.

Will it work on school Chromebooks?

Yes. It runs in the browser on Chromebooks and older phones, with nothing to download and no third-party scripts for your filters to block.

See your school's work experience in one place.

A 20-minute demo, on a call or in person in Bristol, London or Reading.

This opens your email app with the details filled in. We reply within one working day.