Too many 16-18 year olds are falling out of the education and skills system, and in this guest blog, CEO of the Careers & Enterprise Company Oli de Botton explains how early intervention can help.
The latest figures are stark. 900,000 young people are now not in education, employment or training (NEET) – the highest level in nearly a decade. This not only blights life chances but holds back growth. Things could get worse with the attainment gap now wider than ever. Poor school outcomes today, lead to economic inactivity tomorrow.
There is real energy from the new government to tackle this. The Youth Guarantee for 18-21 year-olds, the focus on supporting mental health and the commitment to helping young people get ready for work are all welcome.
Modern careers education has a role to play too. After all, NEET prevention is better (and cheaper) than the cure. If young people reach 16 or 18 with a clear line of sight to the world of work – including an understanding of the skills employers need – they are more likely to find a solid next step.
Careers education links schools to skills to jobs
Ensuring all young people learn or earn until 18 is a complex challenge. As others, like the Youth Futures Fund have pointed out, NEET rates are influenced by a range of factors including economic conditions, achievement levels, and the availability of training opportunities. Young people living in poverty face more barriers than others.
But there are practical things we can do that make a difference. We know from over three years’ worth of national destination data that high quality, employer focused careers programmes reduce the likelihood of young people becoming NEET. The impact is double in schools serving disadvantaged communities.
We also know that where schools are delivering careers in a holistic way – including through lessons – young people are more likely to be interested in and take up apprenticeships.
New evidence out this month from two separate reviews, as well as new pilot in Greater Manchester, suggest ways we can turbo-charge the impact.
1. Start early.
Young people form limiting stereotypes about work from an early age. At six, some children rule out certain jobs based on gender or background. By nine, they can abandon their biggest ambitions. These perceptions are hard to reverse as children get older. In careers theory, thinking positively about the future is a crucial element of making a strong and lasting connection to work.
But there is a way forward. Evidence from a primary school pilot in disadvantaged areas suggests that when children meet employers and their teachers connect lessons to good local jobs, they look to the future with more optimism.
Girls in the pilot showed an increased interest in law (up 34%), business and finance (up 36%) and construction and building (up 25%). 65% of teachers said pupils felt less restricted by stereotypes. The next challenge is to ensure these perceptions continue through to secondary school, where we know confidence in the future dips in Years 8 and 9.
2. Modern work experience.
High quality work experience helps young people get ready for work. When integrated into a structured careers programme, it builds confidence in key skills like speaking and listening. This is critical. Teaching the sorts of skills employers want is not always easy for teachers. ‘Hands on learning’ in the workplace is a protective factor against future exclusion from the labour market.
That’s why we at the Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) are partnering with Andy Burnham to ensure secondary school students receive 50 hours of work experience as part of his Manchester Baccalaureate pilot. We are starting with the digital sector which is the fastest growing in Europe. The CEC has designed a multi-experience model that uses learning objectives to join activity together during a young person’s time at school. We have placed an emphasis on equity, so all young people benefit and flexibility, so all types of schools and employers can get involved.
3. Smooth the path between school and further study or training.
It’s at points of transition where young people can fall out of the system. The nine terms between the start of Year 10 and the end of Year 12 need special support – not least because for some young people wider factors get in the way of thinking about what’s next.
The evaluation of a national programme designed to find out what works at points of transition suggests at risk young people benefit from:
- A trusted adult who can guide them about career plans
- Feeling listened to, supported and valued when considering their future.
- Meeting people they could relate to from the world of work who shared similar backgrounds and had faced similar barriers.
More than nine in ten young people (94%) on the programme successfully moved on to college or training courses after leaving school at 16. 93% were still on their course after six months. This compares with national data which shows 82.6% of all young people are still on their post-16 courses after six months.
The programme highlighted the value of proactively identifying young people at risk of NEET indicators, drawing both on data and the insight of professionals and families. Where this was done well – and with respectful conversations – projects were able to be well targeted.
Low attendance, exclusions rates or lack of local employers were all found to be important factors in the NEET risk equation. Equally, effective interventions needed to recognise and address the complexity of multiple intersecting barriers.
Now of course this work can’t solve the whole problem. That is a collective endeavour. But careers education can play a pivotal and purposeful part as we seek to meet this challenge head on.
