Mapping a complex support landscape: transitioning from education to employment in County Durham and Newcastle

Blog posts

22 Jan 2026

Dr Alexandra Nancarrow, Research Fellow

For many young people transitioning from education or training into employment, finding available support when trying to get a job can often feel like navigating through a maze of unfamiliar services. These complexities are compounded for those with experiences with the care system, involvement in the criminal justice system, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and mental ill-health. Even as a researcher working on a project that was designed to map this type of support, it was evident that the support is embedded within a complex system of government-funded and third sector provision. When support services are difficult to navigate, young people can miss critical opportunities for support that ultimately limit their potential and widen inequalities.

Commissioned by the Youth Futures Foundation, the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) conducted research that mapped education to employment support available in 2024 for 14 – 30 year-olds who had experience of the care system, experience of the criminal justice system, SEND and mental ill-health. As a part of this project, a deep dive in two local authority areas, County Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne, was completed to highlight all available support (i.e. government-funded support and support provided by charities and the community sector) to help individuals transition from education and training into work from April to May 2025.

Area snapshots

County Durham and Newcastle present contrasting contexts that shape support for young people transitioning into work. Newcastle, the largest city in the North East of England, is an urban hub with a more diverse population, while County Durham spans a predominantly rural landscape. According to the 2021 census, Newcastle had a population of 298,545, with 27.7% economically inactive, whereas County Durham had 521,447 residents, 25.9% of whom were economically inactive. These differences in geography, population size and economic activity influence the types and accessibility of support available in each area, with Newcastle’s urban setting offering different opportunities and challenges compared to the rurality of County Durham.

Available support

Across Newcastle and County Durham, our research identified more than 70 education-to-employment support mechanisms, most of which were provided through the local authorities. However, the number of support organisations in the two areas were not evenly distributed, and the support did not equally cover the four groups of young people across the same life stages. For example, in County Durham, there wasn’t any non-government funded support for young people who have had experience with the criminal justice system, and there was only one charity that supported young people with special educational needs.

Support tended to centre around individuals aged 16 – 25 years, with fewer support mechanisms available to help 25 – 30 year-olds transition through education and training into employment. There appeared to be no local authority provision specifically designed to support individuals over the age of 25 in transitioning into employment. Thus, if unemployed individuals aged 25+ needed support finding a job, they most likely had to seek it for themselves or access support through a Jobcentre if they were on Universal Credit. This was a bit different for young people with mental ill-health in Newcastle and County Durham, as most of the relevant support for these individuals was for those over the age of 18. For those with mental ill-health under the age of 18, there may be room for adding additional support with transitions to post-16 education. 

Why does this matter?

Navigating available support to help people find a job isn’t easy. It’s even more complicated when you add on additional barriers to employment, such as care experience, special educational needs and disabilities, mental ill-health or involvement in the criminal justice system. The support sits within a complex system that can feel fragmented and detached, with offers of support spanning different organisations and sectors.

The ability to accurately map and understand provision at a local level is important for not only helping young people find and access support but it also enables local authorities and support organisations to identify crucial gaps in support. This knowledge has the potential to decrease the fragmentation within the support system while also improving the design of services that can effectively meet diverse and complex needs of the individuals who require the support the most.

What’s next?

The nature of this research didn’t allow for understanding whether the apparent lack of non-government funded support in Newcastle and Couty Durham indicated actual support gaps or a more streamlined local authority approach. Further research can help to explain this. For example, only one charity in County Durham supported young people with special educational needs in the transition from education and training into employment and may not reflect a gap in support at all; instead, combined with the local authority offer, these individuals may have a comprehensive system of available support.

Using a more focussed lens to explore ways in which support services connect with each other to help young people transition into work may be the key to understanding what is happening on the ground across England. By learning from what different areas, such as County Durham and Newcastle, do well, we can move towards a more integrated support system in which every young person, wherever they live, has access to meaningful and coherent support.

If you’re a local authority in the UK and are interested in mapping and understanding support for young people with care experience, involvement in the justice system, special educational needs and disabilities or mental health needs, we’re keen to connect. Get in touch with us to explore how we can share insights and/or collaborate on future projects: askies@employment-studies.co.uk.

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Any views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Institute as a whole.