The far-sighted and radical decisions taken by two dedicated headteachers at Burnholme in the 1990s resulted in a perfect blueprint to prepare young people for work. Instead, careers is relegated to a sideline and schools are exam-driven, competing with other schools for student numbers and the amount of high grades achieved. The work experience choices were handled by me, assisted by Trident (remember them? This allowed students to find their feet in the first week and make a valuable contribution in the second. The much-maligned Records Of Achievement “purple menus" were introduced and students encouraged to use them and fill them in.