A pilot programme that provides targeted careers support has been given a £2.5 million boost and aims to help 1,500 more disadvantaged young people find a post-16 destination.
The trial, delivered by national careers education body The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC) and funded by JPMorganChase, aimed to break down barriers faced by disadvantaged young people and prevent them becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training).
The investment bank initially funded the programme with £2 million and will now pump an extra £2.5 million into it after the initial pilot found more than nine in ten participants (94 per cent) successfully moved on to college or training courses after leaving school at 16.
More than 1,000 young people who faced barriers such as living in high deprivation areas, on free school meals, had poor mental health, low school attendance or were at risk of exclusion were given careers support through 10 of CEC’s 44 careers hubs across the country.
The initial funding gave schools access to careers coaches and mentors from the Careers & Enterprise Company’s careers hub. Each hub launched projects to provide bespoke guidance to the young people in each area.
Each project included activities that aimed to show students the variety of education and employment routes in their area. These included visits to FE colleges, parental engagement, one-to-one coaching, and talks from employers to give insights into the world of work.
For example, in Leeds, local businesses in growth sectors visited a group of girls on free school meals who had high absenteeism and were identified by their school as having low social capital, confidence and self-esteem. The pilot found 100 per cent of them went on to college or training and were still there after six months.
Elsewhere, young Black men in London who were outside mainstream education in alternative provision or school exclusion units received intensive one-to-one coaching and business mentoring with aspirational role models they could relate to. The pilot found 93 per cent of the group were still in education or training after six months and 95 per cent believed they now had a trusted adult they could talk to about their future plans.
The careers education body said the pilot shows success of prevent young people from becoming NEET as national data shows 83 per cent of all young people are still on their post-16 courses after six months.
Phase 2 of the programme will target 1,500 more young people in London, Liverpool, West of England, East Sussex and Leicester.
“It’s fantastic to see the power and purpose of this programme – helping disadvantaged young people facing significant barriers find and stick with the education or training that’s right for them once,” said Oli de Botton, CEO of the CEC.
He added: “This programme shows how high impact careers support can transform the prospects of some of our most disadvantaged young people. It demonstrates how every young person can and should be supported to take their best next step – to be ready for work and life beyond school.”
Hang Ho, head of international philanthropy at JPMorganChase said: “The results from the Effective Transitions Fund pilot phase show impressive impact, and we now have data-driven insights about how to best support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to access quality career pathways.
“We are proud to have been part of the pilot phase and have already committed to scale the work across England to support an additional 1,500 young people through the second phase of the programme.”
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