Does school-based careers education, advice, information and guidance (CEAIG) have any influence on later life outcomes? This paper reports regression analyses using 7,635 survey responses from young people in England aged 21-22. Significant positive relationships were found between self-reported CEAIG activities experienced at age 14-16 and a…

This article offers a critical reflection on the function of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) in pathways to employment for disabled young people. We consider 'the education plan' as an artefact of special educational needs systems. We problematise the often taken-for-granted assumption that such plans are always and only a 'good' thing in…

Throughout the 1980s and 90s there was international interest in the UK's extensive experience (which began in the 1970s) with measures to alleviate youth unemployment. Today the UK attracts international attention on account of its low rates of youth unemployment and NEET, its (still) relatively rapid education-to-work transitions, and (according…

Around the world, young people face considerable challenges. Even before the disruption of the Covid-19 crisis, policymakers were seeking to respond to rapid technological advances, climate change and -- in some countries -- an ageing population and workforce. While children and young people worldwide generally have high aspirations and ambitions…

This article investigates the impact of the relationship between learning providers and young people who have experienced Not being in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) on the latters' agency development. Agency is defined as not only bounded but generated by intra-action with relations of force, including learning providers themselves.…

While policy-makers in Britain can justifiably lay claim to creating the term NEET to define young people who do not engage in formal learning, training or employment, the high number who fall into, and remain in, this category continues to challenge them. This, in part, is attributable to the extended use of the term NEET to capture all young…

The apprenticeship movement is reshaping skills, policies, and programs in the United States at a critical moment in our country's history. This reader offers a chorus of voices emanating from different countries and populations, echoing commitment to bright, sustainable workforce futures through a well-crafted approach to this talent development…

This paper discusses the findings from a one-year ethnographic study of young people attending Entry to Employment (E2E) programmes in two local authorities in the north of England. The paper locates E2E within the broader context of provision for low-achieving young people and of UK government policy on reducing the proportion of young people who…

In 1957, 12 years after the end of World War II, the Ministry of Education issued Circular 323 to promote the development of an element of "liberal studies" in courses offered by technical and further education (FE) colleges in England. This was perceived to be in some ways a peculiar or uncharacteristic development. However, it lasted…

This paper presents the history of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT). The origins of the specialist schools programme lie in a meeting to address high levels of youth unemployment held at the House of Lords in January 1986, the result was the establishment of 100 technology schools to meet the skills needs of new business. In the…

Interviews with 286 employers and trend analysis of the youth labor market in South London showed greater unemployment there than in the nation. Employers had disappointingly low awareness of the Training Credits Programme; few hired youths under 18 because more adults were available for work. (SK)

Presents data from nationally representative sample of the England/Wales Youth Cohort Study, describing patterns of paid work among full-time students in Years 12/13 working for qualifications. Shows paid work of a few hours has negligible impact on "A" level grades, but long working hours significantly reduce grades. (BT)

Discusses the government role in school-to-work (STW) in England and Wales, youth unemployment and the labor market, effects of deregulation, current research on STW, and the introduction of modern apprenticeship, in which formal training in further education colleges is combined with apprenticeship. (SK)

This article describes the Milton Keynes Home-School Link project, which provides home instruction for parents with preschoolers. Funded by the Manpower Services Commission, the project provides short-term employment for out-of-work teachers, who serve as home visitors, and unemployed young people, who act as aides. (SJL)

This report presents papers on the vocational qualifications systems in Sweden, France, the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany, and England and Wales. An introduction (Russ Russell) looks at common themes. The paper on Sweden (Gun Cardell) addresses vocational education opportunities, curriculum and standards, costs, youth and…