Early Support Helps Prevent Youth Unemployment in Sefton
Sixteen-year-old Chloe credits early intervention for preventing her from becoming one of the UK's one million young people not in education, employment, or training (Neet).
Chloe, who suffers from severe anxiety, left school at 14 to be home-educated in Sefton, Merseyside. However, she became increasingly anxious about leaving the house and uncertain about her future.
"I was only doing my maths and English at home; I wasn't going out of the house or anything, I was just doing that."
Recognizing her risk, Sefton Council identified Chloe as needing early support to avoid becoming Neet.
Before 2019, Sefton Council provided careers support only to those over 16. Seven years ago, they shifted strategy to target under-16s at risk of becoming Neet, offering one-to-one support through the charity Career Connect.
The program focuses on building trusted relationships between young people and careers advisers to keep them engaged in learning and help plan their next steps.
Chloe's careers adviser, Kate Timmins, met her at home, accompanied her to college open days, and helped her secure a place on a vocational childcare course. Kate also helped Chloe build confidence to travel independently.
Now, Chloe enjoys college life and is pursuing her dream career in nursery work.
"I wouldn't have been able to go to college now if I didn't have Kate's help," she says. "It was great because she knew everything and I didn't have to keep repeating myself and keep explaining how it was making me feel."
This personalized early intervention has helped Sefton defy national trends in youth unemployment, especially among younger teens. As of March this year, only 3.8% of 16- to 17-year-olds in Sefton were Neet, a figure that has halved since the scheme began in 2019.
National Concerns and Early Intervention in Leeds
A major review published recently by former Labour minister Alan Milburn warns Britain faces a "lost generation" without urgent action to support over one million young people aged 16 to 24 who are not working or learning.
Milburn warned that young people were being failed by the whole system and too often put on "a path to a life not in work, but on benefits".
However, many young people begin the journey toward becoming Neet well before age 16.
In Leeds, the Cockburn Multi-Academy Trust is adopting a similar preventative approach, targeting students from age 12.
Since late February, three schools in the trust have partnered with the charity Ahead Partnership on a pilot involving around 60 Year 8 students. These students have poor attendance, special educational needs, or other risk factors such as growing up in poverty.
Every half-term for the next four years, these students will visit local businesses to learn about employment opportunities, attend workshops to improve skills like communication and teamwork, and receive one-to-one support to motivate better attendance and engagement.
Terri Nelson, assistant head at Cockburn School, reports that over half (58%) of participating students have already improved their attendance in the three months since the pilot began.
"It's about them being able to see the end game and being able to work back from there. Part of our development plan as a school is raising aspirations for students," Nelson says.
"If they haven't seen a family member or a friend go down a professional route or go on to study at college then they won't follow suit."
The students have visited a bus depot and a youth charity, with plans for a construction site visit next. Nelson emphasizes involving pupils in choosing topics, with students requesting workshops on wellbeing and stress management.
"I've had pupils involved asking me on the school bus 'When's the next one?' and 'Can we talk about this still?'" Nelson says.
Sefton Council's Data-Driven Early Intervention
Preventing young people from waiting until age 16 for support was a key reason Sefton Council began earlier intervention, explains Claire Maguire, Service Manager for Employment and Learning at Sefton Council.
She says there is too much opportunity for "drift and delay" in the old system, meaning "in lots of cases before we were able to provide any support, months could have drifted past."
Currently, nearly a third (31%) of Sefton Council's career support interventions are for under-16s.
The council uses data from schools and other services to identify children at risk of becoming Neet. Risk factors include poor school attendance, special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), experience with the care system, involvement with the youth justice system, or home education.
Sarah Vaughan from Career Connect, who manages the scheme for Sefton Council, says they have worked with about 5,000 under-16s since 2019, often conducting multiple home visits to engage young people.
"We're finding more and more social isolation. Sometimes on home visits the young person is talking to us from the top of the stairs," she says.
"Our staff are really good at giving young people hope. There's a lot of fear among young people that they've failed at the age of 14, 15, 16 and that's the rest of their life."
UK's Youth Unemployment Crisis and Education System Challenges
The UK's Neet rate is among the highest in Europe. Research from the Resolution Foundation suggests the education system is a key factor.
Nye Cominetti, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation, explains that the recent rise in Neet rates is driven by a weaker labour market and increased mental health issues, but the crisis has been "decades in the making."
"The UK's poor performance relative to other countries is mainly down to a lack of education, rather than employment, and particularly poor non-university routes into work," he says.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told the BBC that schools have an important role in addressing the Neet crisis but cannot do it alone.
She said the Milburn Review was right to point out that what happens in the early years and outside of school were some of the biggest drivers of why we're seeing so many young people ending up Neet.
Phillipson also highlighted the stigma around technical and vocational routes and noted government efforts to expand options through T-levels, new V-levels, and apprenticeship reforms aimed at younger people.
Impact of Early Support on Families
Chloe's mother, Danielle, attests to the positive impact of early intervention on her daughter's life.
"There's been a big difference. She's gone from being stuck in her bedroom all day to now getting up and going to college every day. She's got more confidence now."
