How two councils have boosted youth education and employment opportunities

Across England, there has been a half percentage point reduction in the proportion of 16 and 17 year olds classified as Neet - from six per cent to 5.5 per cent.

But Bracknell, Windsor, Blackpool and Medway areas have reported decreases of between 11 and 18 percentage points, according to recent official Department for Education figures.

The DfE cautions that large decreases could be down to discrepancies in management information changes.

However, the local authorities are attributing the improvements at least in part to the specialised efforts of support teams and pre-apprenticeship programmes.

ONE-TO-ONE SUPPORT IN MEDWAY

In Medway, there was a drop of 17.5 percentage points in December 2018 to February 2019, compared to the same period in 2017/2018.

Of the 6,370 16 to 17-year-olds in this age group, 6.9 per cent were Neet or their status was unknown.

Medway has a specialist team which provides one-to-one support for young people in targeted areas such as Neet, youth offending and special educational needs.

"Our officers contact young people aged 16 and 17 and offer them support and advice to help them into employment, education or training," says the council.

"They monitor Neet and provide targeted support when needed."

Officers believe close links with education partners and training providers have also helped to reduce the number of Neets in the local authority area.

The council says it has used social media to alert young people to new job vacancies and to signpost them to further support groups.

"The improvements are testament to our excellent working relationship with schools," it says.

"We have also created reports which enable us to provide targeted support to young people who are at risk of not being in education, employment or training.

"We have also used social media to highlight the support that is available to young people."

FLEXIBLE WORK EXPERIENCE IN BLACKPOOL

Blackpool reported an 11.8 per cent reduction to 6.2 per cent out of a total of 3,210 young people.

Diane Booth, Blackpool Council's director of children's services, says that improvements being driven through a number of initiatives, including developing more accessible pathways to local further education colleges and sixth forms for young people.

"A pre-apprenticeship programme and a commissioned local provider of key employment support are also helping to unlock opportunities for young people," says Booth.

"These opportunities range from four-week unpaid ‘try before you buy' work experience to four week unpaid ‘personal development' opportunities to develop employability skills.

"In addition, we have detailed support plans for our care leavers which specifically allows for the prioritisation of our young people for roles and work experience both within the council and our arm's length companies, as well as local businesses," she said.

ENGLAND OVERVIEW: ACHIEVEMENT FOR ALL

Dr Catherine Knowles, a researcher at education campaign Achievement for All, notes in her blog analysing the figures, that the fluctuations should not distract from the 61,830 16 and 17-year-olds across the country who are Neet or their status is not known.

"Looking more closely at the distribution of Neets across England, we see the all too familiar picture, with higher proportions of Neets in the north east, north west, Yorkshire and Humber and the south west. 

"In these areas the proportion of Neet for this age group is higher than the national average; and in the north east, Yorkshire and Humber and the south west, the proportion and number of 16 and 17 year olds who are Neet has actually increased since 2016."

"But not being in education, employment or training at 16 or 17 years old is not just confined to the poorer regions of the country. 

"London still has over 8,000 young people not in education, employment or training, with over 9,000 in the south east. 

"And across all regions, it is the boys who are losing out on the opportunities. 

"It doesn't have to be like this.

"As educators, perhaps we need to change more to bring change where it is needed. Education is not just about passing exams, but about having the social, emotional, cultural and personal skills, not just to survive but to thrive in life and society; by 16 years old young people should have the skills they need to move more confidently to the next phase of their lives."

Knowles also highlights regional variations in Neet outcomes for young people with special educational needs.