The majority of students polled in a major survey believe more needs to be done at schools, colleges and universities to educate them about careers in the digital world.

The research, conducted by Maidstone-based digital marketing agency Reflect Digital, revealed 63% of more then 1,000 13-21-year-olds questioned believed they needed more information.

The figures have been released ahead of National Careers Week, which runs between March 4-9 - a national event dedicated to promoting quality careers advice in schools and colleges.

In addition, 90% said they would benefit from learning about digital marketing/coding in the education system, while 45% feel pressured into choosing a traditional career path.

Becky Simms, CEO at Reflect Digital, said: “These figures are worrying and there is a lot happening already to change this.

“From the work I do in schools the pace of change is slow and yet the speed of career change is fast.

"According to a study by Dell Technologies, in 2030, 85% of the jobs we will be doing then do not exist currently.

“If this becomes a reality our education system will be really left behind.

“As we progress fast towards being a ‘digital first’ nation, we need to ensure we are investing at the very beginning of the digital journey and developing the right skills to support the future digital economy.

“We cannot expect the onus to be on the teaching staff to know about all of the varying career opportunities out there, we need businesses to engage more with schools.”

She is now calling on the government to look at a tax incentive scheme to help support businesses should they wish to offer their time to inspire the next generation.

She adds: “In order to get businesses to engage more with schools, there needs to be more of an incentive to do so.

“We do a lot of work with schools, colleges and universities but we are playing the long game, firstly to help promote our industry and secondly to help attract talent.

“The career opportunities in our digital sector are endless and keep evolving, roles are becoming more and more specialised, continually offering more opportunity.

“The roles that exist will really suit the youth of today and their experience of the internet from a very young age, but the awareness is not there of what opportunities are out there.”