Councils are supporting disadvantaged young people into education, employment and training
Councils hold many roles when it comes to young people. One of the key ones is their statutory duty to ensure young people are engaged in education, employment or training up to age 18, and up to age 25 where they have an education, health and care plan.
An important part of this statutory duty includes re-engaging those who have left – or are on the verge of leaving – education and training, and developing a local strategy that provides young people with sufficient choice and opportunities.
To this end, councils are constantly working hard to develop bespoke initiatives for particular groups with specific needs identified within their respective local areas.
Often, many of these interventions are additional to standard national initiatives and are typically financed through council funding or through a range of external funding bids.
An LGA-commissioned compendium of case studies showcases the innovative work councils are undertaking to support and develop pathways for groups of young people experiencing disadvantage.
The case studies demonstrate good practice, with a focus on initiatives to support particular groups of young people, including those with special educational needs, young offender backgrounds, those of black, Asian and ethnic minority heritage, and with experience of the care system.
The case studies featured here, from Bristol, Hackney and Hampshire, demonstrate the range of programmes for this group of young people in their respective areas. The full nine case studies available online demonstrate some key findings, including:
- Enhanced support for all: many councils provide additional support to all targeted groups, as well as enhanced access to support and specific support for disadvantaged sub-groups – for example, those requiring ‘soft’ skills, such as social skills, team building, and increased confidence.
- Care experienced young people: some councils have specific programmes to provide additional tailored support to care experienced young people, including ring-fenced work experience and apprenticeship opportunities with the council as an employer.
- Young people with disabilities: some councils provide tailored support to young people who may be facing barriers to opportunities or who are not given opportunities by employers. This covers a range of physical and mental health impairments.
Young people face many challenges when it comes to staying in education, employment and training.
“Young people face challenges to staying in education, employment and training”
These include: transport and access opportunities, especially in rural areas; digital connectivity; anxiety issues; negative prior experience of education; lack of entry or level 1 learning opportunities; September entry (lack of roll-on-roll-off provision); financial concerns about the implications of further study; and inconsistent careers education information, advice and guidance.
Funding provision is one of the main challenges for councils.
Activities are funded from a variety of sources, including local authority budgets, combined authority funding, the European Social Fund, Opportunity Areas (Department for Education), and the Youth Futures Foundation.
In cases where council funding is used, it is often ‘under annual review’, which limits long-term certainty.
Evidence produced during the delivery of these case studies supports the argument for devolving further responsibility to local authorities, so that councils can provide effective support and pathways for these young people.
Bristol WORKS
Bristol has a relatively young age profile compared with the average across England and Wales. Many of these young people are more likely not to be in education, employment or training (NEET) and significantly fewer than the national average are likely to go on to higher education.
To address these levels of disengagement, leading post-16 providers have developed the ‘Improving Bristol Post 16: education, skills and careers pathways strategy 2019-2024’, a collaborative strategy for building a post-16 system appropriate for the 21st century.
A key part of post-16 delivery includes the Bristol WORKS programme, providing access to quality work experience and apprenticeships to every young person in the city.
A series of activities has developed under the WORKS umbrella programme specifically targeting disadvantaged and marginalised audiences. These include:
- Career Coach – a bespoke five-year coaching programme that matches children (aged 13 or 14) in care with local employer mentors.
- Bristol WORKS for Everyone – tailored provision for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) that starts from year 9, with careers exploration, and moves beyond year 11 with progression planning and supported mentoring into paid employment.
- Realising Talent – provides additional support to 14 to 16-year-olds with SEND to improve their opportunities at, and transitions to, post-16 education and training.
Successes and lessons learned include:
- Building a recognised, trusted brand – key to reaching young people experiencing disadvantage has been a well-established core, central offer in the WORKS programme.
- Bespoke experience – teams work closely together to deliver a creative, tailored package for their schools, focusing on their biggest gaps and cohorts most at risk of becoming NEET.
- Listening to schools and employers – the team regularly collects feedback from schools, employers and young people involved in the programme.
In 2020-21, the programme delivered 2,850 experiences of work to young people, and this included supporting young people with additional (SEND) needs, including 60 learners supported through ‘Realising Talent’.
Will, aged 14, one of the participants on the Bristol WORKS programme, said:
“Overall, this week has taught me to believe in myself and never cave in and give up when times get tough.”
Kirah, aged 15, said:
“This project brought out many skills from me and my peers who I was working with. I felt more confident, and we all worked as a team to come together with a finished product.”
Hackney Council Apprenticeships
Hackney is an ethnically diverse London borough that has experienced significant population growth and rapid economic change, including growth in local businesses, over the past 20 years.
While employment rates have improved, the borough has high levels of poverty and deprivation.
Fast economic and inclusive growth are core priorities for the council. An inclusive approach is integral to employment pathways delivery and support within Hackney Council.
The design of programmes and opportunities is focused on engaging and supporting young people experiencing disadvantage in the area, including care leavers, young people with disabilities, and young black males.
Hackney Council Apprenticeships has been operating for five years, with more than 100 apprenticeships delivered. The programme runs on a cohort model, so that there are now a couple of new recruitments per year.
Key features that enable a focus on disadvantaged groups include:
- Engagement to stimulate demand: “We had more than 1,000 applications for 50 apprenticeships initially”.
- Recruitment – everyone is invited to an open day and the Employment Pathways team proactively engages in the recruitment process.
- On-programme support – includes pastoral and networking support for those on the apprenticeship programme.
Data shows that representation among disadvantaged groups and retention rates for apprenticeships at the council are high.
The inclusiveness strategy has also supported the council on a trajectory towards employing more people who live locally.
And Hackney Apprenticeship Network delivers, on average, much higher wages compared with Hackney employers overall.
This has also proved a challenge, though: in committing to paying high wages, you attract large numbers of good-quality candidates. But offering sufficient level 2 positions can ensure a focus on recruiting disadvantaged young people.
Senior level and cross-council commitment have been key to the success of the programme. There is sponsorship from senior leaders within the council and the local hospital involved in the apprenticeships.
One of the participants, a junior management consultant, outlined how they were “given a chance to talk to some of the recruitment team and they gave top tips on what to do and what not to do”, which was helpful.
“This challenge [has been] a learning curve for me to develop my skills and make sure that I can get the best out of my apprenticeship.”
Hampshire Virtual College
Hampshire County Council is the third largest shire council in the country.
While the rates of NEETs and ‘not knowns’ among the 16 to 17-year-old population are relatively low (and on a par with national averages), the proportion of care leavers that are NEET tends to be much higher than the overall Hampshire cohort, at around 18 per cent.
Inclusion is at the heart of the council’s strategies and planning, with recognition of the need to bolster support for those young people experiencing disadvantage.
Hampshire Futures is the council’s delivery arm. It has two main programmes of activity that support young people into education, employment and training pathways – careers and participation, and employment and skills.
Introduced in 2018, Hampshire Virtual College (HVC) aims to ensure that looked-after young people have access to high-quality, post-16 education, employment and training.
Specialist post-16 advisers deliver advice, guidance and face-to-face support for young people as they transition from year 11 onwards, raising their aspirations and attainment.
A dedicated team of five virtual college advisers (VCAs) provide intense, wrap-around support for progression into sustained education and/or employment for young people in care and care leavers from years 10 to 13.
The HVC post-16 programme is having a tangible impact, supporting young people to participate, achieve and progress in formal education and training.
Since its introduction, intended destinations for looked-after year 11 pupils are identified earlier and the participation rate in post-16 education and training for looked-after young people has increased.
The proportion of looked-after children securing a place in post-16 education is higher (97.9 per cent) than the overall cohort (97 per cent), and both are significantly above national and regional averages.
Attendance, completion and qualification achievement rates for college courses increased by around 3 per cent for the looked-after cohort of young people between 2019/20 and 2020/21.
Among the successes and lessons learned are that:
- A key success factor for HVC has been the dedicated resource available to support this group of looked-after young people.
- The links between HVC and other initiatives supporting young peoples’ pathways have been important for successful outcomes.
Participants report “never having had this level of intense support, either before or since”, and benefiting greatly from the initial support provided, “which helped me improve my confidence and motivation.”