Signature Workshop · For Secondary Schools
A 2-hour live simulation game where students build skills, interact and compete for jobs — learning what it really takes to get hired.
Expected: October 2026
The 2-Hour Journey
What Happens
🎓
Degree Blind Bid
🔨
Skills Auction
📋
Job Board Reveal
🔄
Trade Fair
💬
Application & Debrief
Learning Outcomes
Why Schools Choose SOLD!
This is not a fun game with a lesson tacked on at the end. The game mechanics are the pedagogy — every choice students make generates the insight the debrief unpacks.
Challenge Default Career Thinking
Many students arrive believing prestige degree = career success. SOLD! surfaces a different model: a tradesperson earning £40k with no debt; a junior doctor starting at the same salary after years of training and £60k in loans. The UK labour market doesn't run on the assumptions Hong Kong students bring — and the moment they see that is the first thing SOLD! delivers.
Skills Travel Further Than Credentials
The simulation makes it visceral: high degree, zero relevant skills — harder to land the role. Low degree, right skills — doors open. Students don't just hear this; they experience it through the choices they made 90 minutes earlier. The four skill categories (Analytical, People, Creative, Practical) map directly to what employers actually ask for.
There's No Single Right Path — But You Own Your Choices
By design, not all 40 students get their first-choice job. The debrief question is: "Were you actually less qualified than those who got offers?" Most of the time the answer is: no — they just made different choices in a competitive market. That single reframe shifts students from "I failed" to "I played differently." It normalises rejection and teaches strategic thinking.
Experience the Consequences of Career Choices in Real Time
SOLD! compresses 20 years of decision-making into two hours. Students feel the weight of choosing a degree before seeing the job board, the regret of over-spending on the wrong skills, and the satisfaction of a well-placed bid. These feelings are the data. The debrief converts them into transferable insight.
Understand What Employers Actually Value
The job board reveal is the moment students confront employer requirements directly — not through a teacher's summary, but through their own unfiltered encounter. They read the job spec. They check their skills. They discover whether their degree was necessary. This produces the most authentic career conversations of the year.
Pricing
Three Ways to Experience SOLD!
Option A
Preorder the Complete Kit
Everything you need to run SOLD! yourself, beautifully packaged and ready to unbox.
Full Facilitator Guidebook (16 pages, professionally formatted)
8× branded auction paddles (KT board, professional finish)
Complete Skill Cards set — 4 colours, printed on card stock
Degree Bid Cards (pre-printed, ready to use)
Job Board Display Set (10× A4 laminated cards, reusable)
USB: PPT deck + letter templates + flow cards
Digital Auction Platform (estuary.academy/auction) — 1-year access
Everything branded, packaged, ready to unbox and run
Expected: October 2026
Best for: Schools that want to self-facilitate. Repeat bookings. Teachers confident in facilitation (or using our training videos).
Preorder — £495Option B
Kit + Video Training
The Complete Kit plus expert video training and a 1:1 consultation — for facilitators who want to deliver with confidence from day one.
Everything in the Complete Kit, plus:
3 video modules on facilitation technique (pacing, energy management, debrief)
30-minute 1:1 consultation call with Diana Lee
6 months email support
Expected: October 2026
Best for: Teachers wanting expert guidance before delivering. Building confidence for first-time simulation facilitation.
Preorder — £695Option C
Experience with Diana
Complete Kit + Live Facilitation
UK local · £1,500–1,800 (travel) · HK$12,000–15,000
Complete Kit (yours to keep for future use)
Diana facilitates the full 2-hour workshop at your school
Her energy, pedagogy, and debrief expertise — live
Post-workshop debrief with your organiser (15 min)
Best for: Schools wanting guaranteed quality. First-time workshops. Visiting programmes.
Limited to 8–10 workshops per year.
Book a WorkshopIn the Room
How a Session Unfolds
From the first minute
The auction format pulls students in immediately. Competitive instincts most careers sessions never reach surface within moments — and the room comes alive.
The turning point
When the job board reveals who actually qualified, students feel the weight of their earlier choices. The consequences land before they ever have to make them for real.
The conversation after
The structured debrief turns the game into insight — an honest discussion about what skills genuinely matter, and the paths students had never previously considered.
Questions
Frequently Asked
What age group is SOLD! designed for?+
Secondary school students aged 14–18 (Year 9–13 in UK; Form 3–6 in HK). Can be adapted for university students and young professionals.
How many students do we need?+
Ideally 20–40. Minimum 16 (8 groups of 2). Maximum 80 — run two parallel sessions.
Can we run it online?+
SOLD! is designed as a live, physical workshop — the energy of a room full of students bidding against each other is central to the experience. Optional digital tools are available at estuary.academy/auction to support facilitation during the workshop, but they are tools used within the physical session, not replacements for it. Everything happens in the room.
How much preparation time does the facilitator need?+
With the Complete Kit: 2–3 hours to review the guidebook and set up materials. Facilitating with Diana: she handles everything — you just arrange the room.
What if we've never run a simulation game before?+
The guidebook includes full facilitator scripts, timing notes, and contingency advice. Video training modules are in development. Or book Diana to facilitate first — watching her is the best possible training.
Can we run it multiple times with the same kit?+
Yes. All materials are designed for 5–10 years of reuse. The digital platform is refreshed annually.
What is the learning design based on?+
SOLD! draws on career adaptability frameworks, experiential learning principles, and real cross-cultural career context research. Diana holds RCDP and CCSP credentials and has a background in career development and experience design.
Can you customise the job board or industries?+
The standard board covers 10 major industries across UK and HK labour markets. Custom versions are available on request (additional fees apply). Contact us to discuss.
What about schools outside UK and HK?+
Contact us for custom pricing and international shipping costs.
Next Steps
Get Started
About Diana
Diana Lee is an Enterprise Educator at the University of Oxford, holding RCDP (Registered Career Development Practitioner, CDI) and CCSP (Certified Career Services Provider, NCDA) credentials. She brings expertise in business psychology to career guidance and designs experiences that help students understand themselves and the world of work more deeply. She works across the UK and Hong Kong with secondary schools, universities, and international visiting programmes.