No young person should be left behind when it comes to training and jobs.
Over the past year, young people have been one of the groups hit hardest by the impact of the pandemic on the jobs market, and this has affected their ability to transition into education or employment effectively.
We know how early experiences can scar a person’s adult life for years to come. That’s why it’s vital for every young person to have an effective transition into adulthood and employment. But this can be complex and challenging for many, in particular the disadvantaged, such as those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), looked-after children, and low-income groups.
Improving youth participation in education, employment and training (EET) is key for councils.
While we have a number of statutory duties relating to youth participation – including ensuring all young people up to the age of 18 (and up to 25 for SEND and other groups) are engaged in high-quality education and training – there are many barriers and challenges to us fulfilling these for young people, and a need to better understand them.
That’s in addition to identifying solutions and delivering effective support to those who are – or who are at risk of being – not in education, employment or training (NEET).
So, last autumn, the LGA set out to explore these challenges with the sector. Eleven councils, or groups of councils, took part in an action learning project to look at and share ‘what works’.
In May, we launched a report capturing action learning from the research project – ‘Education to employment: supporting youth participation’. The work builds on our previous report, ‘Re-thinking youth participation for the present and next generation’ (see first 653).
The report makes a series of recommendations, including on developing online provision that is complementary to standard service delivery, and providing local authority ring-fenced opportunities for NEET young people in need of support.
It also recommends having a centralised, single point of contact for young people, employers and training providers (for example, an employment and skills hub), and intensive, tailored support to address wider issues, such as mental health problems.
All this matters, not just for young people themselves, but for economic recovery, for aligning local skills needs and geographical areas, and for helping areas to ‘level up’.
“Early experiences can scar a person’s adult life for years”
Care leavers in Liverpool
Re-engaging young people who are care leavers and who have been NEET for 12 months or more has been a key challenge for Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.
The number of looked-after children in its councils ranges from 90 to 140 per 10,000, compared with the national average of 65 per 10,000).
The experience of the combined authority was that care leavers tend to have lower educational attainment by age 16, compared with non-care leavers. As a result of negative experiences of education, coupled with other issues, such as SEND and stability, this cohort can be difficult to engage.
A range of programmes aims to support care leavers to re-engage and participate. These include: specific apprenticeship and training opportunities for care leavers; a 12-week employability programme leading to a traineeship; the recruitment of ‘employability coaches’ working in the care-leaver team to help support young people into education, employment or training; and dedicated staff and bespoke support to address individual needs.