How can we improve young people’s future prospects? In particular, what extra support can we provide to young people facing disadvantage? And crucially, what defines a successful training and employment intervention? To tackle these questions, on November 23rd, I participated in a workshop at the Learning and Work Institute’s (L&W) Employment and Skills Summit 2023. Unpicking the latest evidence, we explored how best to facilitate young people’s access to apprenticeships and training, and ultimately improve their employment outcomes.
Chaired by L&W’s Deputy Director, Sam Avanzo Windett, the panel also included Jess Evans (Non-Executive Director) and Chris Goulden (Director of Impact and Evidence) from Youth Futures Foundation (YFF), alongside Sonal Shenai, Investment Director from the non-profit Impetus, which helps young people from disadvantaged backgrounds access the support they need to succeed.
The Youth Employment Toolkit
To start, Chris Goulden introduced the Youth Employment Toolkit, a collaborative effort by YFF, the Institute for Employment Studies, and the Centre for Evidence and Implementation. The toolkit distils evidence from 60 employment intervention impact evaluations across high-income countries, covering seven key areas: vocational training/ apprenticeships, on and off-the-job training, basic skills training, life skills training, mentoring and coaching, and wage subsidy programmes.
By comparing each intervention’s impact, evidence strength, and input costs, the toolkit enables a like-for-like comparison.
Uniquely, abstracting each component from its host programme also offers insights into the most appropriate model for different contexts. By promoting evidence-based decision-making, it is clear that this new toolkit has powerful potential for evaluating training initiatives and considering the efficacy of future programmes. I will be taking a closer look!
Balancing evidence with Youth Voice in training design
Next, Jess Evans highlighted the need to balance evidence-based approaches, such as the Youth Employment Toolkit, with Youth Voice. ‘Youth Voice’ is not a homogenous factor, nor a tickbox exercise. Young people are diverse and multifaceted with multiple, complex needs. When designing training interventions, Jess argued we should value both robust evaluation and young people’s lived experiences. This would bring them along, while also directly benefitting businesses by directing diverse viewpoints and a passion for innovation into the workplace.
However, Jess also cautioned that while the sector is lucky to have an increasingly comprehensive evidence base, this can lead to pressure to produce ‘perfect first-time’ training programmes and, therefore, hesitancy. She advocated instead for getting started as soon as possible, adopting an experimental mindset that embraces openness to iteration and evaluation – a sentiment with which Edge can wholeheartedly agree.
Tried and tested approaches for overcoming disadvantage
Next, Sonal Shenai outlined three impactful interventions by Impetus that have been effective in supporting young people facing disadvantage. The first addresses skills gaps in growth sectors, as illustrated by Impetus’ partnership with the ADA – the National College for Digital Skills. ADA aims to meet skills demand in the tech sector, crucially, with a focus on supporting women, those from ethnic minority backgrounds and others facing disadvantage into these industries.
Secondly, Impetus offers wrap-around support and employer connections. This involves collaborating with organisations such as Generation, which assists disadvantaged youth in accessing and maintaining jobs through technical skills training and by brokering employer links.
Finally, Sonal highlighted the Resurgo Spear programme, which aids young people facing compound disadvantage by offering coaching, peer support, and real-life practice opportunities. Evaluated by the government’s data lab, Spear was found to reduce the risk of a young person being NEET by 20% after a year. It was certainly uplifting to hear so many positive initiatives helping young people into work.
How might we further improve youth employment interventions?
As former Head of Apprenticeship Strategy at DfE, this topic is close to my heart. While apprenticeship starts for those under 19 are declining, three strategies can enhance opportunities for young people. First, pre-16 reform is crucial. The curriculum’s current emphasis on rote learning sidelines creative and technical subjects that might otherwise lead to apprenticeships. This is why Edge supports a baccalaureate-style approach, broadening young people’s experiences. We are currently working with Andy Burnham to address this issue in Greater Manchester.
Second, we must incentivise the apprenticeship system toward young people. This might involve, for instance, limiting the apprenticeship levy to under 25s and fully funding 16-18 apprenticeships.
Finally, we must keep options open for students pursuing technical qualifications at Level 3. While many T-levels are robust, they have low take-up. Edge, in collaboration with Youth Employment UK, is currently examining pathways at Levels 2 and 3 to support all young people, especially those at risk of becoming NEET.
While the workshop emphasised the importance of having effective employment interventions guided by the evidence, it also cautioned against applying it too rigidly. As Chris Goulden neatly put it: “We must adopt an agile design mindset.” Recent years have shown that one size does not fit all in education, and we must never forget to extend this to training, apprenticeships, and other employment support initiatives.
Olly Newton is Executive Director at The Edge Foundation. The Employment and Skills Summit 2023 was organised by L&W and sponsored by YFF. Watch the full, rich panel discussion here.