Recommendation 13

HM Government Accepted

PLANS ALREADY IN PLACE The Get Britain Working White Paper announced the Youth Guarantee for 18–21-year-olds in England to ensure young people are either learning and earning. This includes access to high-quality training, apprenticeships, and personalised support to find work. There are eight Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England delivering the Youth Guarantee trailblazers. The trailblazers are designing and testing how to bring together the range of existing national provision available to young people in a coherent way, with a focus on employment, education and training opportunities. Each area has the flexibility and autonomy to tailor the offer to the needs of their locality, with funding also available to put provision in place where needed. Across all Youth Guarantee Trailblazer areas, we are seeing strong collaboration with local authorities, employers, FE providers and voluntary organisations ensuring young people get the help they need. It is a valuable model we want to learn from more widely, including in the future rollout of the Youth Guarantee. Through the Guarantee, support is available to young people aged 18 to 21, with a focus on those who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET), or at risk of becoming NEET. This includes care leavers and others facing multiple or complex barriers. The programme also has flexibility to support 16–17-year-olds who are most at risk of becoming NEET, ensuring targeted support reaches those who need it most. The Trailblazers are focused on testing what works locally, but the ambition is to use these pilots to inform a national approach. We’re keen to learn from local delivery and scale up where impact is clear, ensuring the Youth Guarantee can support more young people across the country. Skills White Paper Commitments We will strengthen how young people at risk of becoming NEET are identified and supported. Local authorities, Strategic Authorities, schools, and further education providers will be enabled to share and use data more effectively, supported by new “Risk of NEET” indicator tools and guidance. Artificial intelligence will enhance this process, and collaboration with organisations focused on tackling NEETs will improve data collection and sharing to support smooth transitions. Schools will play a stronger role in ensuring every pupil has a clear post-16 destination. Revised guidance will require targeted support for those at risk, and Ofsted’s framework will reflect these expectations. Updates to the Raising Participation Age Guidance and the September Guarantee will clarify schools’ responsibilities for providing high-quality careers advice and working with local authorities to secure places for vulnerable young people. In order to prevent 16- and 17-year-olds from dropping out, any young person without a post-16 plan will automatically be allocated a place at a local college or FE provider, with wraparound support. Pilots will test an auto-enrolment model to ensure this approach works. Attendance tracking will also be strengthened across all 16–19 providers, adapting best practice from schools to identify early signs of disengagement. Local oversight will be enhanced, giving Strategic Authorities a greater role in accountability and data sharing. Young people aged 16–24 are already supported through a wide range of mechanisms: • September Guarantee: Local authorities must ensure that all 16- and 17-year-olds receive an offer of a suitable place in education or training by the end of September each year. September Guarantee: offers of education and training for young people age 16 and 17, Academic year 2024/25 - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK • Raising the Participation Age (RPA): Since 2015, young people have been required to continue in education or training until at least their 18th birthday. This includes full-time education, apprenticeships, or part-time education with employment. Participation of young people in education, employment or training • Risk of NEET Indicator (RONI): Guidance helps local authorities identify and support young people at risk of becoming NEET,