Early help services
Other early help services
The vast majority of young people continue in education or training when they leave school, and make a successful transition to Further or Higher education or employment. But there are still too many who either ‘drop out’ or struggle to make the transition to the labour market at age 18 to 19.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Department for Education (DfE) define young people who are not in any form of education, employment or training as NEET.
Education, employment and training (EET) are defined as:
- Education: Any formal course of education (full or part-time)
- Employment: Any paid work (including part-time or temporary work), self-employment. Employment does not include voluntary work or work experience.
- Training: Any formal employment-related training course (full or part-time) and including Traineeships, ‘Basic Skills’ and engagement programmes for the most disengaged. It does not include Support Contract modules or CV writing.
The role of local authority services in England
Raising the participation age
Since the start of the 2013/14 academic year, young people have been required to participate in EET for longer. Since 2015 they have been required to participate in EET until they turn 18. This does not mean that they need to remain in school; they may be in any form of education or training, an apprenticeship, or combine full time employment (or voluntary work) with accredited part-time learning.
DfE has published statutory guidance (PDF) which sets out this duty, and the role of local authorities in more detail.
Education and training
DfE, through the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), funds education and training for young people aged 16 to 19 and 20 to 24 with a learning difficulty or disability (LDD) in England. This might be in school. college, through a training provider or traineeship or apprenticeship provider.
For those not yet ready for mainstream education or training, re engagement programmes, for example, Building Bridges and the Get Ahead programmes in Swindon, or other programmes run by the community or voluntary sector, ;may be offered.
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring there are sufficient places to meet the needs of young people and work with the ESFA to identify and fill any gaps that emerge.
Support to participate
All local authorities have a duty to help 16 to 19 year olds, and 20 to 24 year olds with LDD, to participate in education or training and to provide targeted support to those who are NEET. They have flexibility to do this in a way that best meets local needs.
September guarantee
All 16 and 17 year olds are entitled to an offer of a suitable place in education or training by the end of September each year. Local authorities are responsible for leading this process, tracking offers made to young people and providing support to those yet to receive an offer.
Tracking young people’s participation
To enable them to fulfil their duties, local authorities need to be able to identify young people who are not participating, and assess their needs. Local authority services maintain a database of 16 to 19 year olds resident in the area but must draw heavily on information from education and training providers, youth services and Jobcentre Plus to keep the database up to date. As a local authority, our performance in relation to this is measured nationally on a regular basis.
Financial support to continue in education and training
The 16-19 Bursary Fund provides financial support to disadvantaged young people in England to help them to continue their education or training. The most vulnerable young people, those leaving care or in receipt of certain benefits, are eligible for a significant bursary.
Young parents in England are also able to claim care to learn to cover their childcare costs while they are participating in education or training.
Information for young people and their parents or carers is available at Gov.uk 16 to 19 bursary fund.
Information on Care to Learn is available at Gov.uk's Care to Learn.
Benefits
16 to 17 year olds are, in certain circumstances, eligible to claim benefits. Relatively few 16 and 17 year olds engage with the benefit system and therefore do not come into contact with Jobcentre Plus. However, for those that do, it is particularly important that Jobcentre Plus and the LA contractors work closely together to ensure the smooth processing or benefits and ensure the provision of good quality information, advice and guidance to help young people engage with education, employment or training.
Advice on benefits can be found here:
Parents and carers
- Information for parents and carers, about services for children and young people:
