First jobs. Real experience. No CV? No problem.
Launchpad matches teens, school-leavers, college and university leavers with paid roles, weekend work, summer jobs, volunteering and work experience — filtered by what you're actually looking for and where you are.
We open region by region so there are always real local opportunities to apply for. Not in the North East yet? Tell us where you are and we'll email you the day we open near you — no account needed.
Stay safe — always talk to a parent, carer or trusted adult first
Before applying for a role, sharing personal details, or arranging to meet a potential employer, please check with a parent, guardian, teacher or another responsible adult. Never travel alone to a first meeting, and only meet in public places. Every role posted on Launchpad is reviewed by our moderators before it goes live — but you should still trust your instincts, and if anything feels wrong, stop and tell someone you trust.
981,000 young people are out of work and out of education
That is 13.0% of everyone aged 16 to 24 in the UK, measured by the Office for National Statistics between April and June 2026. It rose by 30,000 over the year. Of that total, 393,000 were looking for work and had not found it. The other 588,000 had stopped looking.
Launchpad opened in the North East first because the North East has the highest rate of any English region.
Part of what makes a first job hard to get is circular: the advert asks for experience you can only get by having had a job. Every listing here states which of three levels it needs — none, some, or experienced — and none is a filter you can search by, not a footnote at the bottom of the page.
ONS classes these as official statistics in development: response rates to its Labour Force Survey have fallen, so read them as the best available estimate rather than an exact count. Figures from the August 2026 release, covering April to June 2026.
- Aged 16–24 and NEET, UK
- 981,000
- Share of that age group
- 13.0%
- Change over the year
- +30,000
CV builder made for you
Guided template that turns school, hobbies, volunteering and small experiences into a professional CV.
Map & radius search
See roles near you on a live map. Set your radius — walk, bus or bike distance.
Smart filters
Part-time, full-time, weekends, summer, weekday, no experience needed — refine in seconds.
Volunteering & work experience
Not just paid jobs. Build your story with placements that count.
Apply in one tap
Send your CV and a note directly. Employers can also reach out to you.
Built for beginners
Every role is tagged for the experience level required, so first-timers aren't hidden.
Who Launchpad is for
The same listings, sorted by where you are in the process rather than by job title.
Still at school
Saturday shifts and holiday work that fit around term time. Filter to weekend or summer, then set a radius you can genuinely walk, cycle or bus — the map only shows what is inside it.
Leaving school or college
First full-time roles, and work experience placements that give you something to put on a CV before an employer asks to see one.
Studying at college or sixth form
Part-time hours that work around a timetable, plus volunteering you can write about in a personal statement.
Leaving university
Full-time roles, and the part-time work that pays the rent while you look for them.
Parents, carers and teachers
Every role is moderated before it appears, and the safety guidance is on the page rather than buried in terms. You can read what a young person sees without creating an account.
Employers
Post a job, volunteering placement or work experience. A moderator checks it against the contact details on your account, usually inside 24 hours, then it goes live.
What you will find
Three kinds of opportunity, and four ways to narrow them down. These are the actual filters, not categories invented for this page.
Jobs
Paid work, marked part-time or full-time. Weekend and summer roles are tagged as such so they are findable in the weeks people actually look for them.
Volunteering
Unpaid placements with charities and community organisations. They count on a CV and on a personal statement, and for many people they are the first thing that does.
Work experience
Short placements arranged through the same moderated process as paid roles. Useful when you need something concrete to point at.
Narrowing it down
- When you can work
- Weekday, weekend, summer or flexible.
- Experience needed
- None, some, or experienced. Roles open to first-timers stay visible.
- Hours
- Part-time or full-time.
- How far you can travel
- A radius you set yourself, drawn on a map from where you are.
Employers: find young talent, not just CVs
Post part-time roles, weekend shifts, summer work or work experience placements. Search candidates by location, availability, and what they've done — school projects, volunteering, sports, anything relevant.
Every role is verified by our moderators — using the contact email and phone number you provide — before it becomes visible to young people. This usually takes less than 24 hours.
Questions people ask
Is Launchpad safe for young people?
Every role is read by a moderator before anyone can see it, and we check the contact details against the ones on the employer's account. We also ask you to talk to a parent, carer or teacher before you apply, share personal details or arrange to meet anyone. Launchpad will never ask you for your password, your bank details or money.
Do I need experience to apply?
No. Every listing is tagged with the experience it needs — none, some, or experienced — so roles open to first-timers are easy to find instead of buried. The CV builder turns school, hobbies, volunteering and Saturday jobs into something an employer recognises.
What kinds of opportunities are on Launchpad?
Paid jobs, volunteering, and work experience placements. Paid roles are marked part-time or full-time, and everything can be filtered by weekday, weekend, summer or flexible hours.
Where does Launchpad operate?
The North East first. We open a region at a time so that when you sign up there are real local roles to apply for rather than an empty map. You can join from anywhere in the UK, pick your region, and we will email you the day we open near you.
How long does it take for a job to appear after an employer posts it?
Usually less than 24 hours. Nothing skips that step, including repeat employers.
What happens to my personal details?
They are used to help you find work, and nothing else. You can ask for a copy of everything we hold about you, or ask us to delete it, whenever you want. The privacy notice sets out your UK GDPR rights in full.