Gap year? Go to university? Start a business? Get a job? The pressure on matriculants to know what they want to do after school can be intense, and the fear of making the wrong choice is ever-present. Now, a new programme from Henley Business School Africa is helping to take the pressure off.
The new Henley Work Readiness Programme, which will run for the first time in 2025, is a one-year accredited programme that is designed as a flexible alternative to a traditional university degree or gap year. It allows young adults to gain a host of practical and relevant skills in a safe environment while building core confidence and giving them the space to explore different career avenues.
Programme director Jonathan Stock says that, unlike previous generations, Gen Z is actively seeking to lead portfolio lives, meaning they have multiple interests and do not want to tie themselves down to a single direction in life. They are also much more committed to achieving a healthy work, life balance.
‘The Work Readiness Programme is all about “building a life that is bigger than your business card”,’ he says. ‘A combination of academic rigour and real-world experience, the programme builds knowledge and confidence while allowing our students the space to explore what they’re good at and what’s important to them.
He adds that a key element of the programme is that it gets students ready for the world of work in a way that few other experiences can do and reduces the chances of them miss-stepping early on in their careers.
‘Plus, unlike many other post-matric programmes, it also comes with an NQF-level 5 accreditation, a Higher Certificate in Management Practice, which is the same as a first year at university. This gives graduates more choices after the programme ends,’ he says, ‘including increasing their chances of getting into a top university if that is the path they want to follow.’
In addition to the core curriculum, students will have the option to sign up for extra online courses in skill areas that interest them through Henley's online learning partners, gaining digital certificates as they go that they can display on their CV and social media profiles. 'We believe that this will significantly enhance their employability,’ says Stock.
Stock continues that graduates of the Henley Work Readiness Programme can either continue up Henley’s ‘ladder of learning’ to gain a degree-level qualification in business – at undergraduate and postgradaute level, right up to the MBA if that’s what they want. This will set them up for a career in management or to start their own business. Or they can switch to another course or direction for their lives.
‘In essence, matrics can now go directly from school to a top global business school and gain a quality qualification in management practice that will be recognised and valued by employers both in South Africa and internationally.’ says Jon Foster-Pedley, dean and director of Henley Business School. Henley Business School is part of the University of Reading in the UK, which is regularly ranked among the top universities in the world and was recently named Sustainable University of the Year 2025 in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025.
‘We’re saying to students, start your career off at the top, with a global business school that can take you places. All graduates also join our alumni network of 100,000 purposeful leaders and managers who are making an impact around the world.’
Foster-Pedley adds that the launch of the Work Readiness Programme is part of Henley Business School Africa’s ambitious plans to reimagine South Africa’s education system by creating practical, hands-on learning that enables more people to gain skills that can propel them, and the economy, forward.
The school already offers an articulated series of post-experience undergraduate and postgraduate level programmes designed to enable working South Africans to gain qualifications more easily and to be able to apply their learnings directly back into the economy. Henley also administers one of Africa’s largest self-funded scholarship schemes to ensure wider access to these programmes. The school currently graduates upward of 2,000 students a year.
Foster-Pedley says that Henley Africa has long been a passionate advocate of youth development, working with numerous foundations to create opportunities for youth at school or school leavers, but has recognised that there is an opportunity to become more directly involved in shaping the future of young people through its Work Readiness Programme.
‘While global business schools cater mainly to a post-experience student – meaning students who are already working – because our education system is under so much strain, it is becoming evident that we need to intervene where we can, to bridge the gaps and increase access to quality education that delivers impact,’ he says.
‘South Africa is significantly underperforming in terms of educational outcomes per capita relative to GDP, and its existing tertiary sector is struggling to meet the demand for post-matric education, leading to many qualified students facing rejections. At the same time, the world of work is changing dramatically, and this calls for a wholesale reimagining of how we educate our children and what we teach them to do.’
‘We have a young and growing youth population that represents a huge opportunity and a bumper growth dividend,’ concludes Foster-Pedley. ‘Our young people will ultimately determine the future of this country, and we all need to use our collective strengths to find ways of liberating and optimising this talent. The new Work Readiness Programme is an important part of Henley’s contribution to this challenge.’
To find out more about Henley Business School Africa’s Work Readiness Programme, visit: https://www.henleysa.ac.za/work-readiness-programme