Urgent need for improvements to education, training and employment support for young people taking non-university routes

Findings from Young Lives, Young Futures, a major research study investigating education, training and employment opportunities in England for young people who don’t go to university, will be presented to an audience of policy makers and other key stakeholders at the House of Lords on Wednesday 12^th November.

This six-year study — in which more than 10,000 young people have participated — highlights the urgent need for a coordinated strategy across government and society to ensure more equitable education-to-work transitions for young people taking non-graduate routes. This group represents 50% of young people and 50% of the country’s future, yet too many of them continue to be failed by:

o   An education and careers advice system that values academic achievement and going to university over practical and creative learning and non-university routes into work.

o   Limited opportunities for young people to access apprenticeships, good quality training and secure work with employers who care about their progression and wellbeing.

o   Stark inequalities in the distribution of these opportunities along axes of gender, ethnicity, migrant status, special educational needs and disabilities, social class, and place.

o   Cultures of top-down decision-making in schools and workplaces in which the voices of students and young workers are rarely elicited or heard.

Further details of these findings are provided in the report, Precarious Transitions, and other project publications available on the project website.

The study — funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council — is being conducted by researchers at King’s College London and the Edge Foundation in partnership with young people, and advisors from government, unions, employer organisations, schools, colleges, training providers, and youth charities.

The research team also worked with a group of young people from the Black Country, alongside the charities Genesis Sun and Journey to Justice, to develop a creative response to their findings during two workshops held in the West Midlands earlier this year. This work resulted in the co-creation of a film directed by filmmaker Tomasz Wierzbianski and a song written by a group of the young people participating in the workshops, who went on to form the band, Young Lives United.

The young people wrote the song to send a strong message to decision-makers in Parliament and the wider education and training system that young people’s voices need to be heard more and that drastic changes are needed to schools, careers services and employment support particularly for those wanting to pursue creative careers and for those who don’t want to go to university.

The film and song, both called ‘We Need Change’, will be premiered at the House of Lords event alongside presentations on the research findings by members of the research team. A professionally recorded version of the song and a music video will be released on the same day.

________

“This project has united a community of like-minded people who share goals, passions and dreams. We have all truly been inspired to pull together to drive meaningful change.” — Young Lives United

“The Young Lives, Young Futures project has shown the power of collaboration, bringing people together and igniting a shared passion for change.” — Diane Spence, Founder & CEO, Genesis Sun Foundation

"These passionate young people teach us that success can be about being happy and doing what you love and isn't only measured by academic degrees. So often schools focus only on university, leaving so many creative, skilled, entrepreneurial students unsupported and unaware of the options open to them. They know this needs to change." — Martin Spafford, Journey to Justice.

“The Government’s recent response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review has created a glimmer of hope – that vocational subjects and the knowledge and skills required for life and work should finally be properly valued.

 “This cannot come soon enough. The key findings from this landmark study show that the education system has simply not been working for the 50% of young people who follow non-graduate routes.

 “Edge’s Skills Shortage Bulletins show time and again that employers and the economy are crying out for skilled apprentices, technicians and craftspeople. We must continue to heed the voices and experiences of young people that are spotlit in the Young Lives, Young Futures study and create clear high-quality routes for young people to develop the skills they need for successful careers.” — Olly Newton, Executive Director, the Edge Foundation

“Perhaps the single most important message coming out this research is the value of working in partnership with young people. Doing so highlights how metric-based accountability systems often get in the way of what matters in education. This includes respecting young people’s perspectives on their individual and collective needs, interests and aspirations, and how these might best be served.

“Only by putting in place systems in which young people are supported to meaningfully participate in decisions about the conditions in which they learn and work can we ensure that policies and practices are fit for purpose. This is critically important not only for education quality, individual wellbeing and social justice. It is also an economic imperative.” — Professor Sharon Gewirtz, Project Lead, King’s College London

For further details contact:  Sharon Gewirtz | sharon.gewirtz@kcl.ac.uk

Read the summary report, Precarious Transitions, here:

YLYF Precarious Transitions Report 12 Nov.pdf

Download PDF • 896KB