Finding a NEET Solution Report: EDSK and Youth Futures Foundation

Last week EDSK and Youth Futures Foundation published Finding a NEET Solution, which focuses on dealing with the causes of becoming NEET rather than the symptoms. You can find the full report here.

Main Findings

There are serious scarring effects that being NEET can have on young people.

It will take 150 years on current trends to eradicate the problem of young people becoming NEET in this country.

At the end of 2021 over 700,000 16 to 24 year olds are classified as NEET.

There are many reasons why young people become NEET and only 40% of young people recorded as NEET are unemployed.

Labour Market trajectory can be predicted correctly based on four main risk types at age 16: low educational attainment, low self confidence/self esteem, early pregnancy and a disadvantaged family background.

Careers information advice and guidance

• Careers information and guidance is important in preventing young people from becoming NEET.
• A young person experiencing financial hardship may have limited time and attention for engaging with CAIG.
• If most disadvantaged schools met all eight of the gatsby benchmarks for providing high quality careers advice to young people, they would see an average of 31% increase in the chances of their pupils securing a sustained education, employment and training outcomes.
• Research by the Education and Employers Taskforce found that the more times a young person encounters employers during their secondary school years they are less likely to become NEET.

Subject and Curriculum Options

• Vocational courses and qualifications have repeatedly been shown over the past 20 years to have a positive impact on the attainment and self esteem of those most likely to become NEET.
• The Increased Flexibility programme in the 2000s which offered vocational learning alongside academic subjects at school was popular and improved attitudes, behaviour and social skills.
• Technical Awards – Currently the only vocational qualifications approved for 14-16 year olds have a 23% reduction in unauthorised absences and a 62% reduction in permanent exclusions. However, GCSE exam entries outnumber technical awards by 14 to 1.

Apprenticeships, traineeships and work experience

• Apprenticeship Levy incentivises employers to invest in their existing workforce rather than taking on young people with over half of all apprentices now aged 25 and over.
• The Young Apprenticeships programme, which started in 2004  allowed pupils aged 14-16 to spend 2 days a week in the workplace. 95% of participants progressed on to further education/training with 19% moving on to apprenticeships.
• “Young apprentices took more responsibility for their education than their peers did in school” – Ofsted
• Student apprenticeship pilots – for 14-16 year olds found that the vast majority of training providers, schools, colleges and young people involved believed there were real benefits.
• IES found that 79% of young people who were NEET thought traineeships could help them to access good quality work.

Financial incentives for young people and employers

• Disadvantaged young people may be unable to fully engage with their education when they need to cover costs such as transport, clothing etc.
• From 2004 to 2011 an EMA of up to £30 a week was available to 16-19 year olds from lower income households. Studies found this improved participation and attainment.
• The EMA’s replacement, the 16-19 bursary fund, only offers annual financial support totalling £150 million, whereas EMA was given £580 million.
• The 2019 Employer Skills survey of 80,000 organisations showed that around a quarter “do not have enough spare time or resources to offer opportunities to younger recruits.”
• 42% of employers showed enthusiasm for working with disadvantaged young people.
• During the pandemic, incentive payments were available to employers of £3000 or £1000 for offering traineeships. Recipients said that the payments had influenced their decision to recruit a young person.

Academic and pastoral support

• Young people without any A*-C grades in their GCSEs account for two-thirds of the NEET population.
• Government invested millions into the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) access to subsidised tutoring.
• Only 15% of NTPS 2 million courses in the current academic year target has been delivered. Only 44% of pupils who received it were from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• The current operator of the NTP has been stripped of their contract and the £349 million of funding will go directly to schools instead.

GCSE Resit Policy

• Students who are one grade below a pass at age 16 must retake their GCSE by age 19.
• Only 30% of students resitting either GCSE English or Maths go on to pass by age 19.
• Ofsted have warned that “that the impact of repeated failure on students should not be overestimated.”
• DfE allows students to study English and Maths at lower levels after failing GCSEs but not before.

Academic and Pastoral Support

• Offering social and emotional support is another aspect of promoting young people’s academic progress.
• The transition from primary to secondary school is known to be a risk point for vulnerable learners, with a poor transition associated with “deleterious effects on self esteem, depression and academic attainment at age 18.”
• There is little evidence on how to support young people into Post-16 education.
• 1 in 7 young people aged 11 to 19 experience one mental disorder and the peak age for onset is 14.5 years old.
• The percentage of young people who are NEET and have a mental health condition has tripled from 7.7% in 2021 to 21.3% last year.

Recommendations

• Clearer accountability – Current role of Minister for Skills should be converted to Minister for Skills and Youth Employment. This role should be shared between DfE and DWP.
• Prevent the downgrading of non-academic courses and to create a level playing field between academic, vocational and technical education.
• Functional Skills Tests in both English and Maths. A student up to 18 to study core English and Maths to help literacy rates. Students must continue studying both until they get a pass at level 3.
• Increase the amount of young people eligible for the 16-19 bursary fund.
• To enhance employability skills the DfE should create a new programme called The Young Traineeship for 14-16 year olds. This would provide extended work placement of 50 days over 2 years with a local employer. Completion would be the equivalent to a pass at a GCSE subject.

NEET people come from a diverse range of backgrounds, but are most likely to be from disadvantaged backgrounds. Making sure these young people who are most at risk have the support early is important so we can prevent causes rather than having to deal with the symptoms.