A careers service can’t help you if accessing it requires a free afternoon

Imagine a careers workshop at two on a Wednesday.

For one student, it means walking across campus after a lecture. For another, it means giving up a paid shift. For a commuter, it might mean staying several hours for the last event of the day, then paying to get home.

Same invitation. Different price of admission.

A new report from the Graduate Futures Institute, in partnership with the University of Leicester, puts that problem into focus. Among 288 higher education professionals surveyed across 107 providers, 76% selected difficulty engaging students who are time-poor among the five biggest barriers to delivering effective careers support for under-represented groups.

That does not mean 76% of students cannot access careers advice. It tells us that the people providing it see lack of time as a major obstacle.

Which makes “you should use your careers service” rather incomplete advice.

The appointment has to fit somewhere

Students are asked to think about their future while keeping their present running.

There are lectures, assignments and revision. For some, there are also shifts, long journeys, children or relatives who need care. An hour-long event can occupy much more than an hour once travel and the gaps around it are counted.

None of those commitments disappears because an employer is visiting campus.

The report describes how paid work, caring responsibilities and commuting can make optional careers activities difficult to attend. It also finds that careers teams face constraints of their own: 69% of respondents selected budget constraints among their five biggest barriers to effective provision, and 55% selected staffing capacity.

So this is a design problem with pressure on both sides. Students need support that fits their lives. Advisers need the time and resources to provide it.

Sending another reminder email will only get you so far.

Available is only the beginning

A workshop can be useful and still be inaccessible to someone who needs it.

The same applies to work experience. In a separate question, 81% of respondents selected the need for sustained paid employment among the five biggest barriers to participation in work-related learning for under-represented students.

A placement that requires someone to leave a reliable job has a cost, even if the placement itself pays. Hours, location, duration and travel all matter.

The report includes examples of provision designed around those constraints: local part-time micro-placements, flexible paid virtual internships, travel funding, and work-related learning within degree programmes.

These are examples of reported practice, not proof that one model works for everyone. But they show the kinds of changes available.

Put an employer project inside a course and students can build experience within their academic timetable. Offer a short local placement and someone may be able to keep their existing job. Cover travel and an opportunity becomes possible for someone who could not afford the journey.

Practical details decide who gets through the door.

If you cannot make it, say what would help

For students reading this, a clash with work or caring responsibilities is worth explaining to your careers team.

Ask whether there is a remote appointment, an alternative time or a way to get feedback without attending a workshop. If a placement looks useful but the logistics do not work, ask about shorter opportunities, local employers or financial support.

Those options will vary by university. They are questions to ask, not services every team can promise.

You also do not need to arrive with a finished career plan. “I’m working three evenings a week, I can’t relocate, and I don’t know which roles would suit me” is a useful starting point. It gives an adviser something real to work with.

Support that starts with your circumstances

This matters to what we are building at Clive.

Helping someone find a suitable first job requires understanding what they can realistically take on. Location, money, time and caring commitments belong in that conversation from the beginning.

Digital support could make parts of that process easier to access around a busy life. It cannot create spare hours, pay for a train ticket or replace every form of specialist help.

A careers service may have excellent advice waiting. The next question is whether the student can reach it.

Support should not require you to have an empty diary before you can start filling your future.

References

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Graduate Futures Institute, in partnership with the University of Leicester. From Access to Graduate Success: The Next Phase of Social Mobility. September 2026, pages 23–24 and 35–42. A survey of 288 higher education professionals across 107 providers, run from 1 July to 4 August 2026. Its findings reflect professionals’ perceptions and reported practice, rather than independently verified effects on graduate outcomes.