While a recent major review warns Britain faces a “lost generation” of over one million young people not in education, employment, or training (Neet), one borough in Merseyside is demonstrating a significant counter-trend. Sefton Council has successfully halved its Neet rate for 16- to 17-year-olds since 2019, achieving a figure of just 3.8% in March this year, a stark contrast to national challenges.
This notable reduction is attributed to a proactive, personalised early intervention strategy, targeting under-16s at risk of disengagement. Sixteen-year-old Chloe exemplifies the impact of this approach. Struggling with severe anxiety, Chloe left school at 14 to be educated at home in Sefton. “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,” she recounted, describing increasing anxiety about leaving her home and uncertainty about her future steps.
Personalised Support Averts Disengagement
Chloe was identified by her local council as needing early support to avoid becoming Neet. Prior to 2019, Sefton Council’s careers support was exclusively for over-16s. However, seven years ago, the council initiated a different strategy: targeting under-16s most at risk with one-to-one support delivered through the charity Career Connect. The core objective was to foster a trusted relationship between the young person and a dedicated careers adviser, ensuring continued engagement with learning and facilitating future planning.
Chloe’s adviser, Kate Timmins, met her at home, accompanied her to open days at a local college and helped her secure a place on a vocational childcare course. Crucially, Timmins also gradually built Chloe’s confidence to travel independently. “I wouldn’t have been able to go to college now if I didn’t have Kate’s help,” Chloe stated, adding, “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.” Chloe is now thriving in college and pursuing her ambition of working in a nursery, a transformation her mother, Danielle, describes as a “big difference,” noting Chloe has “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.”
Strategic Intervention Yields Results
Claire Maguire, Service Manager for Employment and Learning at Sefton Council, highlights the strategic shift to early intervention as a critical factor. She explains that the previous system allowed for “drift and delay,” often meaning “months could have drifted past” before support could be provided. Today, nearly a third (31%) of Sefton Council’s career support interventions are directed at those under the age of 16. The council leverages data from schools and other services to pinpoint children at risk, including those with poor school attendance, special educational needs or disabilities (Send), experience with the care system, involvement with the youth justice system, or those who are home-educated.
Sarah Vaughan from Career Connect, who oversees the scheme for Sefton Council, reports that approximately 5,000 under-16s have received support since 2019. Vaughan notes a concerning trend of “social isolation,” with staff often making multiple home visits to engage young people. “Sometimes on home visits the young person is talking to us from the top of the stairs,” she observed. She adds, “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.”
National Concerns and Broader Solutions
The success in Sefton stands against a backdrop of national concern. Former Labour minister Alan Milburn’s recent review warned that young people are being “failed by the whole system” and too often put on “a path to a life not in work, but on benefits.” The UK’s Neet rate is among the highest in Europe, with recent Resolution Foundation research suggesting the education system plays a significant role. Nye Cominetti, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation, attributes the recent rise to a weaker labour market and an increase in poor mental health, but stresses the UK’s Neet crisis has been “decades in the making.” He argues, “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.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson acknowledged the critical role schools play in addressing the Neets crisis but cautioned against expecting them “to do this alone.” She endorsed the Milburn Review’s emphasis on early years and out-of-school factors as major drivers. Phillipson also highlighted “far too much snobbery around technical and vocational routes” and outlined government efforts to expand options through T-levels and new V-levels, alongside reforms to the apprenticeship system to better serve younger individuals.
Replicating Early Intervention: The Leeds Pilot
The preventative approach championed in Sefton is gaining traction elsewhere. In Leeds, the Cockburn Multi-Academy Trust is piloting a similar scheme, targeting students as young as 12. Since the end of February, three schools have partnered with the charity Ahead Partnership, engaging approximately 60 Year 8 students identified with poor school attendance, special educational needs, or other risk factors like growing up in poverty. Over the next four years, this group will participate in half-termly visits to local businesses, attend workshops on employability skills such as communication and teamwork, and receive one-to-one support to boost motivation and school engagement.
Terri Nelson, assistant head at Cockburn School, reported significant early success, with over half (58%) of participating students improving their school attendance within the first three months. Nelson noted, “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.” She added, “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.” Students have already visited a bus depot and a youth charity, with a construction site visit planned, and have actively requested workshops on wellbeing and stress management, demonstrating their engagement.
The evidence from Sefton and the promising early results from Leeds underscore the potential of personalised, early intervention strategies to significantly mitigate the risk of young people falling into the Neet category. By addressing foundational issues like anxiety, social isolation, and lack of aspiration well before the age of 16, these models offer a tangible pathway to improving youth engagement and employment prospects, providing a crucial blueprint for national efforts to prevent a “lost generation.”
