Written evidence submitted by the Learning and Work Institute

Executive summary

• The learning, skills and employment system is complex, disjointed and undergoes constant ‘chop and change’. Young people might not receive the right support to progress from education and learning through to the world of work as what they get depends on which part of the complex system they are in, with some young people missing out on support altogether. A more coherent, joined up approach is urgently needed to ensure young people can progress into the opportunity that is right for them.
• Young people from some groups, including young adult carers, care-experienced young people, young parents and ethnic minority young people face additional disadvantages in the labour market compared to their peers and are less likely to receive the specialist support they need to progress. CEIAG can improve life chances for young people in these groups, but it needs to be holistic, personalised and provided by professionals who understand the needs and barriers that these young people tend to experience.
• The future world of work will be shaped by several important megatrends, and the careers advice and support young people receive must respond to and be shaped by these. For example, young people will need careers information about the sectors and occupations that are likely to see the highest levels of growth as the labour market undergoes substantial change due to megatrends including technological advancements, the net zero transition and demographic shifts.

Complex, disjointed system

Since the start of the pandemic, there has been an increase in the proportion of 17- and 18-year-olds entering full time education[1]. While this is good news, even more must be done to ensure that more young people are qualified to level 2 or level 3, since progress has stalled at lower levels in England compared to many other countries[2]. In particular, a relatively low proportion of young people enter vocational or technical education or apprenticeships compared to other countries. In addition, while the percentage of young people not in education, employment and training (NEET) is at one of the lowest levels on record, England experiences higher NEET rates than many other countries.

The nature of the learning, skills and employment system contributes to these challenges. The system is complex, disjointed and undergoes constant ‘chop and change’. For too many young people, the system works against them rather than for them, making it hard to know where they can go for help, or what support they can access to find work or improve their skills. Some young people miss out on receiving help altogether, particularly from groups such as care leavers, young carers and young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. 

The disjointed system makes it difficult to track and support young people’s transition from education into employment[3]. While Local Authorities have a duty to track and re-engage 16- and 17-year-olds not in education or training, sharp funding cuts make it challenging for them to do so. Many young people from this age group do not receive support from Jobcentre Plus as they are not entitled to receive benefits, further limiting the support they receive. While there are a range of programmes and organisations which aim to engage young people who are NEET, there is no systemic, joined-up approach. The development of Youth Hubs as a potential route to better join up support locally is positive, but they require greater resources to build effective, broader partnerships on a sustainable footing alongside evaluation.

It is positive that youth long term unemployment is now back down to pre-pandemic levels. However, young people continue to face challenges once they enter the labour market, with many stuck in low paid or insecure employment with limited progression opportunities.

Young people do not always receive high quality advice on the range of options available to them, including apprenticeship and technical education routes. The number of apprenticeships for young people has fallen in recent years, partly driven by changes associated with the introduction of the levy.

In addition, disadvantaged young people, including those from ethnic minorities and with a Learning Difficulty and/or Disability (LLD), are less likely to be apprentices and less likely to do well in their apprenticeships[4]. Young people do not always receive enough information about apprenticeships at school or college, and do not always receive feedback when their application is unsuccessful. Furthermore, the way some employers recruit can disadvantage young people if they rely on using informal channels for recruitment or favour ‘work ready’ applicants with work experience.[5]

Traineeships can have an important role to play in making apprenticeships accessible and supporting young people from disadvantaged groups to do well. However, traineeships are not always well-understood by employers, young people, Jobcentre Plus staff and careers advisers. Traineeships are part of a complex landscape of support, sitting alongside a wide range of other pre-employment and pre-apprenticeship programmes with varied eligibility criteria and intended outcomes. This landscape can be confusing, and there is no clear pathway connecting programmes together. Some providers feel there is a lack of clear guidance about which of the programmes is best for individual young people[6]. In addition, there is no systematic process for referring young people who make an unsuccessful apprenticeship application onto appropriate support, and limited access to independent information advice, and guidance for young people. Some providers do not have effective referral systems between their own apprenticeship and traineeship provision, while some only refer to their own programmes.

As part of the Government’s drive to raise the profile of vocational pathways, it has recently expanded the ESFA-funded Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge in schools and colleges (ASK) programme, which aims to help schools and colleges in England to deliver activities on apprenticeships, traineeships and T Levels. In the wake of the impact of the pandemic, young people will require additional support to prepare for and successfully apply for jobs in an increasingly competitive labour market[7].  Programmes like ASK can play a critical role in providing impartial information and advice and should be further developed to ensure young people have a good awareness of vocational and technical options such as traineeships and T Levels.

Recommendations

The Government has announced a series of measures to improve youth employment outcomes over recent years. Many of these measures are positive, but we need a more coherent overarching approach. The Government should introduce a Youth Guarantee for all 16-24 year olds to ensure that all young people can access a job, apprenticeship, traineeship or another education or training programme[8]. This can build on similar guarantees introduced in Wales, Scotland and a number of areas in England. To ensure that young people can make informed decisions about the best pathway for them, the Youth Guarantee should be underpinned by high quality information, advice and guidance.

The Department for Education (DfE) and DWP should work together to set out a clear and coordinated support offer for young people, underpinned by clear learning and progression routes[9]. This should include building career pathways for different sectors and occupations, developed with employers. A coherent offer will improve the understanding of employers, providers, stakeholders and young people of the different pathways available, and help young people make informed decisions about the best route for them. The pathways should demonstrate how traineeships, T-levels and apprenticeships can support young people to enter particular careers along sector-specific pathways or help them make informed choices about what career to follow. Jobcentre Plus work coaches and careers information, advice and guidance professionals must be well informed about the pathways and programmes available which will enable them to refer and signpost individual young people to the most appropriate opportunities for them[10].

To ensure young people can progress into the education, employment or training opportunity that is right for them, a new Youth Employment and Skills Service should be established[11]. This would include building on and expanding the current network of Youth Hubs, which aim to bring organisations providing support to young people under one roof. The service would provide high-quality information, advice and guidance as part of a holistic, streamlined and accessible service for young people, building on the evidence of what works. The new service should bring together staff from various organisations, seeking to engage young people with low qualifications, those at risk of long-term unemployment, including those not on Universal Credit, and those who need extra support to further their career. It would build in co-design so that the support meets young people’s needs and ambitions. Each young person should receive consistent support from a named adviser, who can support their journey through the whole system of employment and skills provision, rather than limiting their options to one part of it. 

The Youth Employment and Skills Services should be funded by central Government but delivered in partnership with local authorities. Local areas are best placed to provide leadership as they can ensure the support offer is joined up at a local level. Therefore, in the medium-term, there should be further employment and skills devolution to allow for this. This would involve central government setting out an overarching long-term strategy, then working with local areas to put in place outcome agreements, whereby powers and funding are devolved in order to enable local areas to deliver on agreed ambitions.

As part of the Youth Employment and Skills Service young people in low-paid work should have access to a dedicated Career Coach as part of a new, locally-led Career Advancement Service[12]. A personalised action plan should be agreed to help young people to move on from low paid work. Entitlements to free learning would be supplemented by A £5,000 Learning Account which individuals could spend on accredited learning, and could be topped up by individuals, employers and the government.

As part of this we should look to broaden the support available for young people who are out of work. This can be done by introducing a new Youth Allowance in Universal Credit for 16-24 year olds[13]. Jobcentre Plus Work Coaches would agree action plans with young people to combine working towards a qualification up to level 3 with looking for work. This would mean that 16-17 year olds who are not generally eligible for benefits today would be eligible for a £30 per week allowance to enable them to work and learn up to level 3.

Finally, we welcome the Baker Clause in the Skills Bill and call for it to be strengthened further, as highlighted by the Chair of this Committee and others. Schools must be held to account to ensure that every young person has the opportunity to interact with colleges and training providers offering a full range of non-academic progression routes.

Future of the labour market

The future world of work will be shaped by a number of important megatrends including technological advancements, demographic shifts, growing inequalities in the labour market and wider society, environmental change and the Net Zero transition, and ongoing shifts from manufacturing to service sectors and changing business models and working practices[14]. These megatrends will bring transformational change to the labour market, including the jobs that are available and the skills these jobs require. In turn, there will be significant repercussions for the CEIAG that young people require.

For example, rising life expectancy means that an increasing number of young people will have careers spanning 50 years[15]. Projections about the future labour market suggest that workers with low levels of qualifications or in low skilled jobs such as production, manufacturing and administration are at greatest risk from automation.[16] Meanwhile, there is likely to be strongest growth in higher level occupations, and demographic changes will lead to continued growth in health and social care and increased job opportunities in skilled trades[17].

Young people will need a wider range of skills to enter and progress at work and adapt to change, including interpersonal skills, cognitive skills, customer and personal service, English language and management skills[18]. Additionally, transferable skills including problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation are expected to be in high demand in the next 15 years and beyond as technology becomes embedded in the workplace[19].

To thrive in the workforce of 2035 and beyond, young people will need to develop new and higher levels of skills and continually retrain and update their skills throughout their lives[20]. To effectively support young people from education into employment, the careers advice and support they receive must respond to and be underpinned by these megatrends. For example, information about the sectors and occupations that are likely to see the highest levels of growth needs to be embedded in careers advice and education and employment support[21]. At the same time, advisers should be clear about the limits of predictive analysis, given an unpredictable future.

Additional support for disadvantaged groups

Young people from certain groups face additional disadvantages in the labour market and may need intensive support to help them to progress. Disadvantaged groups include young adult carers, care-experienced young people, young parents, those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and ethnic minority young people, all of whom are more likely to be NEET compared to their peers. These groups are more likely to experience barriers which make it more difficult for them to access and progress in the labour market. Typical barriers include less family support and lack of role models, lack of qualifications and work experience, and having to split their time between caring and education and employment.

In addition, young people from certain disadvantaged groups may not consider the full range of progression pathways open to them due to lack of networks and role models which can lead to low career aspirations, lack of sufficient careers advice at school leading to limited understanding of career options, and financial considerations and restraints. For example, our research shows that care leavers perceive the apprentice National Minimum Wage as a barrier to starting an apprenticeship, which means that this is not an attractive option for many[22]. Further, while young adult carers on many courses can claim Carer’s Allowance, those undertaking T Levels cannot. As a result, there is a risk that young adult carers will be locked out of education routes the Government intends to be ‘gold standard’.

Effective careers advice can play a key role in improving disadvantaged young people’s life chances. However, too often careers advice takes a one-size-fits-all approach or is too generic or prescriptive, which limits its impact.

Recommendations

To meet the needs of disadvantaged young people, careers advice should be holistic and personalised to meet individuals’ needs. It should directly respond to and help alleviate the barriers that make it particularly difficult for some young people to enter and progress in the labour market. For example, young adult carers may lack qualifications and work experience in comparison to their peers. When working with this group, careers advisers should help young people consider the valuable transferable skills they have gained from caring, how these can be applied in the world of work, and how these skills can be presented in an attractive way to employers.

Careers advice should be provided by professionals with specialist knowledge about disadvantaged young people’s needs and barriers. Careers advisers should receive training to increase their awareness of disadvantaged young people’s support needs and barriers in relation to education, employment and training, which may help to broaden young people’s access to tailored careers support[23]. The training should include rights and entitlements at work and to wider support such as bursaries, and local organisations and services which can provide specialist support.

Careers advisers should use existing tailored resources and materials to provide holistic and individualised careers support to different groups of disadvantaged young people. For example, when working with young adult carers, careers advisers should make use of L&W’s Learning, Work and Wellbeing Toolkit[24]. This includes a range of resources for advisers to use with young adult carers to enable young people to consider their education, training and employment options in the context of their caring roles.

All young people should have increased access to career-related activities such as careers fairs, ‘speed dating’ with professionals and industry talks. Access to these activities can help young people to consider a broader range of career options and to make more informed decisions about their futures. However, providers and practitioners should ensure that young people from disadvantaged groups have fair access to these activities.

Special attention should be given to raising disadvantaged young people’s awareness and understanding of apprenticeships, including the benefits of undertaking an apprenticeship and their rights. This could be delivered through existing initiatives such as ASK, Find an Apprenticeship and targeted engagement activity with voluntary sector organisations and employers.

March 2022