Revealed: Most popular dream jobs for boys and girls in the UK

This was revealed in a competition organised by the Royal Mail to find Young Letter Writer of the Year. It has offered a unique insight into the career ambitions of 100,000 under-14 year olds across the UK.

From the entries received, the competition revealed that 17 per cent of boys and girls said being a professional sportsperson would be their dream job.

This was followed by being a vet (11 per cent); a career in the performing arts/media (10 per cent) and working in the combined category of science, IT, engineering and architecture (nine per cent).

However, boys and girls had differing views on what would make their dream job.

More than one in four boys (27 per cent) dream of being a professional footballer and just under one in five girls (17 per cent) saw their dream job as being a vet.

Science, IT, engineering and architecture attracted more boys (14 per cent) than girls (five per cent). However, more girls (nine per cent) wanted to enter the medical profession than boys (four per cent).

Teaching was found to be the thord most popular job for girls (12 per cent), but one of the least-favoured options for boys (three per cent).

The findings were based on 100,000 handwritten letters revealing the personal dreams of a huge cross-section of the UK’s children.

Royal Mail’s Young Letter Writer of the Year competition started in 1977. This year’s competition saw the highest number of entries since 2000, emphasising the continued importance of letter writing.

Stephen Agar, managing director Consumer and Network Access, said: “The huge number of entries for Royal Mail’s Young Letter Writer of the Year competition shows that young people continue to recognise the importance of good letter writing. The quality of writing, originality of thought and strength of argument demonstrated in this year’s entries shows that many of our children are extremely competent when it comes to putting pen to paper.”