Primary Futures first began working to raise the aspirations of primary aged children in Northern Ireland in 2019.
You can be anything you want to be
pupil from St Malachy’s Primary
Raising Aspirations in 2026
For 2026 we worked with four Secondary Career Leads and their feeder primary schools from across the country. Each grouping of schools was invited to attend a virtual event together.
This project year pupils have met an Orthoptist, an Accountant from KPMG, a Marine Engineer, a Woodturner, a Garden Designer, and an Education Manager from the NI Space Office.
The reaction has been wonderful – the inspiration has flowed and the feedback from young people extremely positive.
- ‘Today I learnt that a marine engineer helped build the Titanic, that anything is possible and accountants can work for big companies.’
- ‘There’s such a wide range of careers open to us!’
- ‘Work can be fun!’
- ‘Today I learnt girls can do jobs which used to be for mostly boys.’
What we’ve done so far
Starting off with one event in 2019, we have now reached thousands of pupils across more than 50 schools with our virtual events when children have heard from inspiring roles such as a BBC Radio Director, Air Traffic Controller, a Concept Artist for Film and TV, and many more.
Across 2024, 2025 and 2026, we’ve partnered with the Education Authority to deliver virtual activities funded by A Fair Start, which are successfully introducing primary-aged children across Northern Ireland to the world of work, and breaking stereotypes as well as raising aspirations.
I actually loved everything about this activity and I found it very interesting
student after a 2025 event
As part of our work in N.Ireland, we also ran our Drawing the Future research study. 1,476 children from 32 schools across Northern Ireland participated in the study. They were asked about the job they aspired to and why that was of interest to them.
The report was launched in April 2025 during a careers related event at Ballysally Primary, which was attended by 40 special guests including representatives from government and local businesses, who volunteered to speak to the children about their jobs. This included one former N.Ireland resident Professor Louise Harra, Director, at Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium, in Davos, Switzerland who said:
“I was delighted to have been asked to chat to the children today. I was born and grew up in Lurgan, County Armagh and I never got the chance to see a range of people with different careers coming to my school and showing me the opportunities that were open to me. That is why I am so keen to volunteer and will be encouraging other people to do so.”
Never give up on your dream job
9 year-old from Ballysally Primary School
Ways you can get involved
Primary Futures will be continuing work with primary schools in Northern Ireland in the 2026-2027 academic year so register to keep up to date with future opportunities.
Schools
Sign up to connect your students with local professionals, take part in our range of activities, and discover how to easily run your own events too.
You can sign up to the Inspiring the Future platform and take advantage of our network of volunteers, resources and more.
Volunteers
We’d love to hear from you – whether you’re based in the N.Ireland or elsewhere.
By joining us, you’ll help young people discover different roles, understand the routes into them, and see that all jobs are available to people just like them.
Employers
If your organisation would like to support this work, do get in touch to find out more.
Supporting your staff to volunteer is a simple way to help young people discover careers, while offering colleagues a meaningful opportunity to share their experience and give something back.
I learned about jobs I have never heard about
10-year-old from Donaghmore Primary School
