EET and NEET

Engagement in education, employment and training (EET)

The September Guarantee requires local authorities to find education and training places for 16- and 17-year-olds, to help ensure that every young person has the opportunity to gain skills and qualifications to help them progress to higher education, work and adult life. Offers should be appropriate to meet the young person’s needs and can include:

• full-time education in school sixth-forms or colleges
• an apprenticeship or traineeship
• employment combined with part-time education or training

The proportion of 16 and 17 year olds in Somerset receiving an offer of a place in education or training in 2019 was below national and regional averages (see below).

 % 16-17 year olds made offer under September Guarantee 2019

Source: Department for Education: offers of education or training for 16-17 year olds

Destinations of Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 pupils

The Department for Education publishes annual estimates of the proportions of school and college-leavers staying on in education or going into employment or training.

In summary, for 2017/18:

• The proportion of state-funded mainstream pupils in Somerset going into sustained education, training or employment after Key Stage 4 (GCSE or equivalent) remained at 95% in 2017/18. This proportion was marginally above the national average (of 94%).
• The proportion of Somerset young people going into sustained education, employment or training the year after Key Stage 5 (A-level or equivalent) was 88% in 2017/18, in line with the England average. The proportion of Somerset young people specifically going into an education setting was 47%, compared to 57% nationally.
• Overall, 39% of Key Stage 5 students from state-funded mainstream schools and colleges in Somerset went to a higher education institution in 2017/18, well below the national proportion of 49%.
• The South West has the lowest rate of pupils going into higher education of any region in England (40%).

Pupil Aspirations

As part of the 2016 Somerset Children and Young People Survey (SCYPS), nearly 4,000 Year 8 and Year 10 pupils from participating schools were asked whether they intended to continue in full-time education after Year 11 (age 16).

• 60% of Year 8 and 68% of Year 10 pupils said they intended to stay in education, representing an increase since the 2014 survey.
• Across both secondary school year groups surveyed, girls were much more likely than boys to want to continue in full-time education (69% and 55%, respectively).
• Young carers and pupils with special educational needs (SEN) were less likely than their peers to express an intention to continue in full-time education after Year 11 (52% and 47%, respectively, and 62% of all pupils).
• Perhaps not surprisingly, intention to continue in full-time education was strongly associated with other positive views on school, such as 'In this school, people with different backgrounds are valued' and 'My work is marked so I can see how to improve it'.

Pupils Not in Education Employment or Training (NEET)

The majority of young people succeed in education and make a positive transition to adult life and the world of work.  But there remain a small proportion who do not, and who become NEET (not in education, employment or training).

At the end of 2019, 3.3% of young people aged 16 and 17 in Somerset where known to be NEET, which was above the national average rate.

Number and proportion of 16 and 17 year olds not in education, employment or training or whose activity is not known, end 2019*

*Average of December 2019, January 2020 and February 2020

Source: Department for Education

Various risk factors associated with young people who become ‘NEET’, particularly those for whom it can be more prolonged, have been identified by various national and international studies. These include educational attainment at school, truancy and exclusion and a lack of information about employment, education and training opportunities post-16. Some of these factors are themselves associated with factors such as lack of parental support, low self-esteem and deprivation levels. Understanding these and addressing them early can reduce the likelihood of young people becoming NEET.