Schools could help pupils map out career plans from the age of 14 under proposals drawn up by officials aimed at cutting reliance on benefits after they leave education.
Alan Milburn’s report into out-of-work youngsters looks set to propose a shake-up of the way teenagers plan their futures in schools, according to leaked documents seen by The i Paper.
His review into young people not in education, employment or training – known as “Neets” – is expected to recommend a new “participation” system to help them avoid ending up on benefits when they leave school or college at 18.
The former New Labour-era Cabinet minister is drawing up plans for public services such as schools and councils to intervene with early support before youngsters become Neet. He is still finalising his recommendations.
According to documents seen by this newspaper setting out the review’s provisional recommendations, 14 to 16-year-olds could be offered support to develop career plans for life after education.
This could include the sort of job they would like to do in the future, how much they would like to earn and the steps required to achieve it, an insider said.
Schools, local authorities and employers would then work together to help pupils turn their plans into reality, the source added.
Nearly one million young people aged 16 to 24 are now classified as NEET, and the cost of out-of-work and disability benefits for this age group is £8.1bn.
The Milburn review, which is expected to propose redistributing public money from benefits to employment support, is due to be published after the 28 October Budget.
A Department for Education (DfE) source said it would avoid placing “unfair burdens” on schools while implementing Milburn’s reforms.
“We’ve shown just how seriously we take the NEETs crisis over the past few months, and know education is central to fixing it – but we will not put additional and disproportionate burdens onto schools,” the source told The i Paper.
The Milburn team is understood to have tested other options for 14 to 16-year-olds, such as improving access to high-quality vocational and technical education for younger pupils at local colleges like mechanics or plumbing.
Another idea is to circulate “risk indicators” to help identify those who could become Neet.
Key groups who could be given extra help are those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), health conditions and disabilities, young carers and care leavers. Young parents and those in contact with the justice services are also likely to be prioritised.
Schools already have to follow statutory guidance to provide careers advice to all pupils from Year 8 to Year 13, including work experience placements. They also have a legal duty to treat technical education and apprenticeships on the same level as university.
“Gone are the days of a careers advisor in schools as a standard”, a secondary teacher in Bristol told The i Paper, adding that most offer two weeks of work experience and a careers fair put on by external providers.
Simon Hughes, executive principal of Blackpool and The Fylde College, said current school work experience is “better than nothing” but still “completely ineffective” in helping young people transition into employment.
He said: “If we want to tick a box… to say, have they had a small [amount of] work experience? Have they been to a careers fair? I think they do it really well. If you say, as a result of those activities, is that young person now prepared effectively for life after school? I would argue that they are not.”
Hughes said young people need “real world” preparation, citing the college’s own “Compass Curriculum” as an example. This scheme allows local pupils in Year 10 and 11 to study a range of practical and technical courses one day a week for two years to teach them skills, test what they enjoy and prepare them for a professional environment.
He also called for better careers advice for primary and secondary age pupils, adding: “We have a model in Blackpool that we believe could be lifted and shifted into any town or city.”
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) secretary Pat McFadden recently told a gathering of Labour MPs he would introduce a “new participation system” to help young people find success.
As career plans can change and evolve over a number of years, the proposals could give teenagers the opportunity to explore what their future might look like before they begin preparing more seriously for adult life from the ages of 16 to 18.
Schools and colleges would help identify those who need extra help achieving their goals so they can receive specialist support, while local authorities would be responsible for ensuring youngsters in this age group are engaged in education, training or work.
Those aged 18 and above are also likely to get support from the “participation” service to remain on track should they need it.
According to reporting by The Financial Times, a separate youth welfare system could be set up for under-25s where they are required to take up work support to receive benefits.
Milburn’s interim report concluded that the current system spends £25 on benefits for every £1 spent on employment support.
Currently, under-25s can get an additional £429.80 a month on top of the standard £338.58 Universal Credit payment if they are judged unfit to work. Separate PIP benefits, which are not directly linked to work and do not involve sanctions, are up to £843 a month.
Separately, disability minister Sir Stephen Timms is looking at alternatives to PIP, which will recommend a complete overhaul of disability benefits to support more people into work, with some claimants encouraged to swap cash for other forms of support such as therapy.
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