Accessibility
Work experience should be available to every student, not just those with the right contacts.
About Kairos Connect
We're on a mission to make work experience accessible to every student — regardless of their background or connections.
Why we exist
The UK is not lacking talent. It is lacking the systems to identify, connect, and nurture that talent early. Too many students miss out on work experience because they don't have the right connections — not because they lack the potential. Kairos Connect exists to change that. We believe that access to opportunity should be based on merit, not on who you know. By creating a structured, centralised platform for work experience, we are helping students discover opportunities they would never have found otherwise — and helping employers find talent they would never have seen.
Merit-based
Opportunities matched on potential, not connections.
North East first
Starting local, with plans to expand nationally.
Built for both sides
Reducing admin for employers. Increasing access for students.
Meet the founder
Mia Ulyett
Mia is a Mechanical Engineering student at Newcastle University who's been fascinated by how things work for as long as she can remember, from space and aviation to the technology behind a more sustainable world. When she went looking for her own work experience, she found that who got a placement had less to do with genuine interest and passion, and more to do with who you knew. Curious whether that was the norm, she ran her own survey and found she wasn't the exception: of young people who'd done work experience by 19, only one in five found a placement relevant to the field they actually wanted to work in. Kairos Connect is her answer, not to remove personal connections from the equation, but to build a way in for the students who don't have them, starting with the North East.
What we stand for
Fairness
We believe in giving every student an equal chance to show what they can do.
Impact
Every placement is a step towards a more connected, more equitable future.