£45 million extension to Youth Guarantee scheme

The Government's Youth Guarantee trailblazer scheme has been extended for another year, thanks to an extra £45 million in funding. 

The scheme, which helps to ensure that all 18-21-year-olds are in work or education, is currently testing innovative ways to identify young people most at risk of falling out of education, employment or training and matching them up to local training or job opportunities.

These local schemes will pave the way ahead of the national roll-out of the Youth Guarantee to ensure all 18 to 21-year-olds get the chance to earn or learn.

Recent ONS figures show 948,000 young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET) across the UK, a national crisis born of a perfect storm of disrupted learning during the pandemic, underinvestment in mental health and a lack of job and skills support.
The proportion of young people who are NEET and who are affected by long-term or temporary sickness has also risen in recent years, with over one in four citing sickness as a barrier to participation in 2023, compared to one in 10 in 2012.

Among other things, those who are NEET are 80% more likely to have special educational needs and disabilities, nearly twice as likely to have a health condition, and twice as likely to have no qualifications.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall said: "This Government will not stand by while so many young people are not in education or training - robbing them of their potential and our country of its future.

"The extra £45 million in funding I have announced today will help us ensure that no young person will be left behind as we unlock economic growth and secure prosperity for all under our Plan for Change."

Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson said: "The number of young people who are currently not in education, employment or training is unacceptably high, which is why we’re determined to spread opportunity into all corners of the country, through our Youth Guarantee, as part of our Plan for Change.

"The Youth Guarantee is just one of the steps we’re taking to get young people into skilled work and training, with reforms to the apprenticeship system to direct more funding to young people, cutting red tape to make it easier to start or complete an apprenticeship, and introducing foundation apprenticeships to give young people a route into careers in critical sectors."