Early subject specialism limits career exploration. The school curriculum is constructed as if the end goal is for everyone to become a single subject expert, as students are forced to gradually narrow down the subjects they study from a young age.

This early specialism limits career exploration and encourages students to pick subjects based on what they think will get them the best grades or qualifications. This approach risks an education system that is too focused on students thriving in exams, rather than in their careers.

The London Interdisciplinary School team believe that young people should be able to explore careers based on problems they are passionate about. In the modern workforce, the kinds of jobs that are growing in number are often in areas like sustainability, caring for the vulnerable, educational disadvantage, ethical challenges around AI, the need for more green spaces and many other areas that young people care about. Not just the professions or the single discipline subjects that students are being pushed towards.

London Interdisciplinary School is a new university founded on the belief that the 21st-century leader requires a broad set of interdisciplinary approaches and methods to tackle the world’s most complex problems. It opened its doors in September 2021 to a founding cohort of 65 students, offering an undergraduate degree that spans beyond the siloed nature of the current higher education system.

The team wants to use their expertise to help schools find the space and opportunities for interdisciplinary learning to enable school students to explore multifaceted real-world problems through an interdisciplinary lens.

The London Interdisciplinary School has a long-term vision to ensure that interdisciplinary learning is embedded within the curriculum at all levels. To support that vision, Big Change funded the team to run a pilot programme to introduce interdisciplinary thinking to school students aged 16 to 18.

The pilot focussed on three distinct areas:

1. Complex problems: Students explore tangible real-world problems encouraging students’ passion, resilience and understanding about the big problems we face.
2. Interdisciplinary learning: Students draw on a wide range of subjects and focus on how to integrate this material in thoughtful and responsible ways.
3. Careers and future pathways: Students articulate their knowledge of how problem-solving can be used in their learning journey and careers.

Since the pilot, London Interdisciplinary School has incorporated key learnings to strengthen and formally embed its support for teachers, schools, and colleges. Through its offerings, schools can access free in-person and virtual enrichment sessions designed to help secondary pupils explore interdisciplinary thinking and problem-solving approaches.

These sessions provide young people with the opportunity to practise essential skills in a school setting, building their confidence to tackle challenges in the workplace and beyond. By maximising the benefits of their education, pupils are better equipped to thrive in their personal and professional lives.

Ed is the Chief Executive at LIS and co-founder of School 21, an innovative 4 to18 school in Stratford, East London, designed for children from all starting points and backgrounds. Ed has advised leaders at Cambridge University, the London School of Economics along with some of the UK’s most exciting schools that are exploring new ways of teaching students. 

He has also worked with organisations specialised in working directly with disadvantaged students such as Ark Schools and Teach First. Ed holds a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London and a degree in Business from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to founding School 21, Ed worked at McKinsey & Co and ran a theatre production company.