We’re sparking curiosity about aviation through hands-on events and immersive activities, linking young people with industry professionals to explore a range of careers.
As aviation contributes £20bn to the UK economy and supports thousands of jobs – the Department for Transport funding our project to encourage young people into a career in aviation – and provide the workforce for the future.
We started our Inspiring Aviation programme in 2020. In 2025/26, we stepped things up with both in-person and virtual events to inspire a whole new audience of young people. They met truly awesome volunteers from across the aviation industry. The key issue being How do you build the future workforce your sector needs if young people don’t know the jobs are there? Our objectives were therefore to:
- Inspire the next generation of aviation professionals
- Reach people who wouldn’t otherwise know about the opportunities available in aviation
- Have a broad impact by engaging as many young people as possible
The impact on children
We’ve reached over 199,000 children in more than 950 primary and secondary schools across England in two years of delivery – with an incredible 95% of teachers rating our events as above average or excellent.
We’re proud to work hand-in-hand with employers across aviation, showing children just how many possibilities are out there – from jet pilots to drone engineers, and even those helping shape the future of flying taxis.
And it’s made a real difference: 69% of secondary students told us they’d be interested in an aviation job after taking part in one of our sessions, and 100% of teachers agreed their pupils learned about brand-new roles in aviation.
“The presenters were excellent and engaging. The interactive aspect was well thought out and appropriate.” – Teacher, Live Virtual Event
Inspiring role models
Through in-person and virtual activities, volunteers from the aviation sector share their inspirational career stories and spark the imaginations of young people. This increases their knowledge of the world of work and helps them understand the skills and qualifications needed to work in aviation.
Our work is especially committed to reaching underprivileged and under-represented groups, breaking the invisible “glass ceiling” and opening up opportunities. The same goes for inspiring more girls into roles often seen as male-dominated – something our female pilots showcase brilliantly.
How schools can get involved
Schools can use our platform to access our database of aviation volunteers and arrange their own inspiring event. Many of our team are former teachers, so we can provide resources and guidance to help teachers run their own sessions.
The funded project is now completed, so the dedicated aviation events have been delivered. However, we do run separate virtual and in-person events with different themes and which often do include aviation role models. See our virtual events for pupils and students below:
I work in aviation and I’d like to get involved as a volunteer
By sharing your aviation career story, you can have a significant impact on the young people you speak with and the future of the aviation industry. When you register as a volunteer teachers will be able to invite you to participate in their activities, and you’ll be able to search for events that are happening locally or across the UK (for virtual events) and let the school know you’re interested.
You’ll also have access to our volunteer resources – including presentation templates for both primary and secondary children – and the team are here for support too if you need it.
“They were able to get an understanding of the variation in roles within aviation, not just pilots.” – Volunteer, aviation industry
We’re looking for everyone from meteorologists and travel agents to air traffic controllers, marketing managers, engineers, pilots and reservation agents, to show young people the range of opportunities available. If you can give an hour of your time this year that would be fantastic.
I’m an employer and want my organisation to get involved
There are lots of ways for employers to get involved, from supporting your employees to volunteer to hosting events, being featured in our video resources for schools or facilitating teacher training sessions to educate schools on the sector and your organisation.
Please complete the expression of interest form if you’d like to discuss how you can get involved.
About Reach for the Sky
‘Reach for the Sky’ is the UK government’s aviation skills programme aimed at inspiring the next generation of aviation professionals whilst striving to make aviation diverse, inclusive and accessible to all. The programme partners with industry, educators and organisations to raise the profile of aviation, create new and improved career pathways, develop enhanced outreach activities, and make training more financially accessible.
