'I just want to be important': what a Scunthorpe apprentice told the Children's Commissioner
What happened
On 1 October 2026, the Children's Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, published an account of her visit to Scunthorpe. The Children's Commissioner is an independent post, created in law, to stand up for children's rights and interests in England. Part of the job is going out and listening to children directly. In Scunthorpe she met young apprentices at British Steel and students at John Leggott College. The apprentices talked about what the scheme gave them. One described the value of going through it as a group: "the big thing is, we're all getting through the apprenticeship together." One young man said something that the Commissioner picked out: "I just want to be important." A 19-year-old apprentice explained what being important meant to her in practical terms. She described growing into the person others would come to for knowledge, the one they depended on. At John Leggott College, students talked about changing direction, and about how much it helps to have guidance that links the qualifications you are taking to the career you actually want. The visit is part of a project called The Big Future. This is the Commissioner's national survey, open to all children in England, asking what it is like to grow up here now. It is her final survey in the role. Her office has set an ambition of hearing from one million children. The survey has been designed to be easy to read and accessible to all children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities. The closing date is Friday 23 October 2026 at 23.59. The findings will be analysed and reported in 2027. When the survey was launched, polling released alongside it found that nine in ten young people said they were worried about the future, with getting a good job, having enough money and housing among their top concerns.
Why this matters
Two things make this worth more than a passing glance. The first is where it happened. Scunthorpe is a steel town in North Lincolnshire, and the uncertainty around British Steel has been part of life there for years. Young people growing up in a place where the biggest employer has repeatedly been in the news do not need to be told that work can be precarious. They already know. The second is what the young people said. "I just want to be important" is not a complaint about pay or hours. It is about mattering to other people. The 19-year-old's answer, about becoming the person others come to for knowledge, is the same thought expressed practically. That is a description of what a good apprenticeship actually gives: not just a wage, but a place in a team and a path to competence. The apprentice who said the important thing was "we're all getting through the apprenticeship together" is pointing at something easily overlooked. Going through training as part of a cohort, rather than alone, is a large part of why apprenticeships work. People finish things they started with friends. And the point from John Leggott College is the most immediately useful for any family. Students valued guidance that connected qualifications to careers. That is not a complicated ask. It is also, nationally, one of the most common gaps young people report.
What the evidence actually says
It is worth being clear about what this publication is, and is not. It is a reflective account of a visit, written by the Commissioner. It is not a research report. It carries no figures from Scunthorpe, no sample, and no statistics. A handful of conversations with apprentices and college students cannot tell you what young people in North Lincolnshire think as a group. That does not make it worthless. Qualitative listening of this kind often surfaces things surveys miss, and the quotes are from real young people in a real place. But treat it as texture, not as data. The survey behind it is a different matter. The Big Future is a large exercise. Its two predecessors, The Big Ask and The Big Ambition, both gathered very large numbers of responses, and by early August 2026 reporting indicated The Big Future had already passed 600,000 responses, ahead of both. The stated aim is one million. A survey like this is not a random sample. Children opt in, often through schools, which means some groups are better represented than others. The Commissioner's office is explicit that it is designed for reach and accessibility rather than statistical sampling. That is a legitimate choice for a listening exercise, and a limitation when reading the results. The launch polling, that nine in ten young people were worried about the future, is consistent with a wide range of other UK surveys of young people over recent years. Jobs, money and housing appearing at the top is also consistent. The findings themselves are not out yet. They are due in 2027. So the honest position today is: the evidence is still being gathered, and until 23 October children can add to it.
Practical advice
There is one time-limited thing here, and several lasting ones. The time-limited one: if you have a child or teenager in England, the survey closes on Friday 23 October 2026 at 23.59. It is free, it is open to all children in England, and it is designed to be accessible. If you want young people's views from Lincolnshire represented when the findings are published in 2027, this is the window. Schools often run it in class, but a child can complete it themselves. The lasting ones are about the gap the college students described. Ask the careers question early, and concretely. Not "what do you want to do?" but "what are you studying, and what does that actually lead to?" Many young people take a combination of subjects without anyone ever joining it up for them. Take apprenticeships seriously as a first-choice route, not a fallback. The government's Find an apprenticeship service lists live vacancies by postcode, free to search. In an area with large employers, local apprenticeships are often better paid and better structured than they are given credit for. Use the free guidance that exists. The National Careers Service offers free advice, including by phone, to people of all ages in England. Talk to your child's college or sixth form about who their careers lead is. Every school and college in England should have one. And if a young person tells you they want to matter, take it at face value. Responsibility, being trusted with something, and being the person someone else relies on are not extras. For a lot of young people, they are the point.
What to know
On 1 October 2026, the Children's Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, published an account of visiting young apprentices at British Steel and students at John Leggott College in Scunthorpe. Apprentices talked about getting through training together, and about wanting to matter. One said simply: "I just want to be important." Students at the college valued guidance that connected their qualifications to the careers they wanted. The visit is part of The Big Future, the Commissioner's final national survey of children in England. It aims to hear from one million children, and is designed to be accessible to all children including those with special educational needs and disabilities. It closes on Friday 23 October 2026 at 23.59, and findings will be reported in 2027. Polling released at the survey's launch found nine in ten young people worried about the future, with jobs, money and housing among their top concerns. This account is a reflective blog rather than research, so treat the Scunthorpe conversations as insight rather than data. Sources: Children's Commissioner for England, "The Big Future: Speaking to children in Scunthorpe", 1 October 2026, https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/blog/the-big-future-speaking-to-children-in-scunthorpe/ ; Children's Commissioner for England, "The Big Future", https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/the-big-future/ ; National Careers Service, https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/ This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a careers adviser, teacher, or from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional on any health matter.
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