Over 2,000 young people take part in CII virtual work experience programme

The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) has revealed that over 2,000 young people have participated in its insurance virtual work experience programme since launching.

Developed in partnership with Springpod, the programme was launched in October 2023 and is designed to bring the insurance profession to life for young people across the UK.

So far, over 2,300 students have engaged with the insurance programme. There is also a personal finance programme, which has attracted over 4,200 participants.

Having completed the insurance careers programme, participants reported a 27% increase in “excellent awareness of careers in this sector”, while participants of the careers in financial advice programme reported a 24% increase.

A participant of the insurance programme said: “This insurance careers programme genuinely changed how I see the insurance industry.

”Before starting, I didn’t realise how many different roles existed, but the modules broke everything down clearly and helped me understand what working in insurance is actually like.”

Participants

Participants in the insurance programme are 48% female, 57% of non-white ethnicity and 18% eligible for free school meals.

The figures are broadly similar for those who have registered on the personal finance side, with 44% female, 66% of non-white ethnicity and 21% eligible for free school meals.

Adam Harper, executive director for strategy, advocacy and professional standards at the CII Group, said: “The CII is committed to advocating for insurance and personal finance careers and educating the next generation on the broad range of career paths that are available.

”We are delighted that so many young people have engaged with our Springpod virtual work experience programmes and particularly that many of the participants come from groups who are typically underrepresented within our sector.”