Education to employment transitions: support in 2024

Journeys through education and into employment are often non-linear and complex, and oftentimes people require additional support during periods of transition. This is particularly prominent among those with additional support needs, and groups who are at risk of marginalisation throughout education and employment.

This research aimed to identify and map the support available to four groups of young people who may experience disadvantage in education and employment, these were people with: special educational needs and/or disabilities; experience of the care system; mental ill-health; and/or experience of the criminal justice system.

Support was categorised in three ways:

• Targeted support: included support directly linked to education and employment transitions, and targeted to one or more of the key groups of interest;
• Peripheral support: included housing, health or other benefit support targeted to one or more of the key groups of interest; and
• Universal support: included widely available support for all 14-30-year-olds, such as Universal Credit and the National Careers Service.

To be eligible for inclusion in the research, support across all three categories had to be available to 14-30-year-olds in England in 2024, and have at least some national government funding.

Support was identified through several sources, including scoping interviews with experts; gov.uk and department websites; and third-sector organisation websites. Once collated, this was shared with 37 professionals for feedback on the completeness of the mapping work. Early findings were also shared with a Youth Advisory Group formed of 10 18-30-year-olds who identified with one of the four groups the research was exploring.

Additionally to this, the project completed deep-dive case studies into two Local Authority areas, County Durham and Newcastle, to better understand how government-funded support interacts with, and is supported by, charity and community support.

This report outlines the support identified throughout this mapping exercise, including a detailed review in two Local Authority areas, and provides recommendations for future research.

The Technical Report details the methods used in the research.