The Scottish Government

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

KEY POINTS

• This study has been commissioned to provide an overview of the difficulties facing those termed as 'not in education, employment or training', or the NEET group in Scotland.
• The study is expected to contribute to an analysis of the needs of the NEET group and the effectiveness of policies.
• The study was subject to a range of limiting factors:

• Timescales and resources to undertake the study, necessitating 'boundaries' on the focus of the study;
• Nature of the literature sources - most of the literature identified has focused upon a qualitative assessment of policy effectiveness and not quantitative impact assessments;
• Focus of the literature on the policy effectiveness of 'getting NEET
  into EET' has tended not to examine the root causes (risks and barriers) of ' NEET-ness' for the NEET group and the various sub-groups.

• The key outputs from the study include an overview of:

• the statistics and size of the NEET group ( Chapter Two);
• the characteristics, risks and barriers relating to each of the NEET sub-groups ( Chapter Two);
• NEET policy interventions and generic issues across these interventions ( Chapter Three);
• Policy effectiveness ( Chapter Four);
• Areas to shape practice ( Chapter Four);
• Potential areas for future research ( Chapter Five).

Introduction

1.1 In this Chapter we provide an overview of:

• Study objectives;
• Approach and methodology for the literature review;
• The study limitations;
• Chapter details for the remainder of the report.

STUDY OBJECTIVES

1.2 This study has been commissioned to provide an overview of the difficulties facing those termed as 'not in education, employment or training', or the NEET group in Scotland. This group refers to 16-19 year olds who - due to their NEET status - are at risk of not making a future successful and sustainable transition to education, employment or training. It should be noted that the NEET group also covers those who are NEET for 'positive' reasons, which are usually chosen by the individual. This might include a 'gap' year or undertaking voluntary work. Despite this group being captured within the wider NEET group, it is not anticipated that this group requires additional support to make future transitions to education, employment or training.

1.3 It is intended that the review will contribute to an analysis of the needs of the
NEET-group and the effectiveness of current policies and interventions across Scotland.

1.4 The study involved an examination of the literature in order to identify and provide an overview of:

• the scale and characteristics of the NEET group and various sub-groups, including a focus on young people who are at risk and who have difficulty in transition to education, employment or training;
• an exploration of the difficulties they experience and how these might differ within and across sub-groups;
• the various policy interventions intended to impact upon the NEET group and an analysis of their effectiveness.

APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY FOR LITERATURE REVIEW

Literature Search

1.5 A literature search was undertaken via a range of sources including a list of core 'experts', stakeholders and service providers working within the NEET arena. The organisations who contributed to this signposting exercise have been listed in Appendix 6.

1.6 The search approach sought to include all relevant Scottish literature as well as a range of English and UK documents. Many of the Scottish policy interventions have been delivered across the UK ( e.g. New Deal and EMAs). However, there are a wider range of policy interventions evident outside of Scotland which are relevant to the NEET group. In order that lessons can be learned about policy effectiveness outside of Scotland, the study has also incorporated a review of a range of English / UK-based policies. The detailed 'outside Scotland' policies are not exhaustive but have been identified on the basis of their similarity to Scottish-based policies or their relevance to the wider Scottish policy context.

1.7 This study has been restricted to a UK-wide perspective of policy effectiveness. This was mainly related to the time and resource available to undertake the study. In addition, there were very few - if any - literature sources which pointed to the work / policy arena for the NEET group within countries other than the UK. This is, perhaps, an area which requires further exploration in the future, in order that experience and practice can be shared with others beyond a UK-setting.

Guiding the Literature Search

1.8 The policy agenda relating to the NEET group and the various NEET sub-groups is far-reaching. There are policy interventions which are designed with education, employment and training ( EET) outcomes in mind and there are also interventions which - although not with an EET focus - could impact upon an individual's ability to access EET. Added to this, is the wide range of policy interventions which are intended to impact upon a more 'universal' grouping, of which the NEET group might form part.

1.9 This backdrop is important to consider in assessing overall 'policy effectiveness' in supporting the NEET group - either directly or indirectly - as this extends across a wide range of support services and resources. However, the objectives of this study relate to policies which are NEET-focused ( i.e. 'getting NEET into EET') and not those which have a more general objective ( e.g. health advice for young people).

1.10 This study direction has implications for the extent to which the study could offer a comprehensive overview of policy effectiveness for individuals who might be described as NEET. Rather, this study is limited to understanding how effective EET policies are for the NEET group. In ensuring that this focus was retained, policy interventions were classified in the following way:

Table 1.1: Search Criteria for NEET Literature Review

1.11 Categories A and B were the key priorities for the literature search, with an incremental approach to including policies which could be classified as C and D, depending on their 'proximity' to the NEET group or sub-group. Categories C and D differ in that category D is more likely to include the NEET group (16-19 years) than Category C, which covers a wider age range, yet might still include the NEET group.

NEET Sub-Groups

1.12 The NEET sub-groups which were identified for this literature review are:

• General NEET group;
• 'At-risk' of becoming NEET ( e.g. still in school and persistent truanting);
• Young care leavers;
• Young carers;
• Additional Support Needs - including disabilities; learning needs; language / communication disorder; social / emotional needs; individuals where first language isn't English / bilingual;
• Young offenders;
• Drug / substance misusers;
• Low attainment / education disaffection / truancy / school exclusion;
• Teenage parents;
• Limiting long-term illness ( LLTI);
• Asylum seekers;
• BME (black and ethnic minorities);
• Educational attainment of parents / socio-economic status of parents ( i.e. inter-generational impact);
• EBD group (emotional and behavioural difficulties).

1.13 Due to the nature of the literature, it has not always been possible to apply rigidly these sub-group headings, especially where there is overlap between one sub-group and another. In addition, it was not always possible to source literature in equal measure across these sub-groups. This is detailed further in Chapter 3.

Report Analysis Framework

1.14 A 'Report Analysis Framework' was designed to guide the literature analysis. This has been attached at Appendix 7. This framework identified a series of key themes and questions which were to be addressed through the literature review. The findings contained within each piece of literature reviewed were recorded against the relevant themes and questions identified. The framework included the following areas, in line with the core requirements of the study:

• document details - for reference purposes;
• numbers and classifications - relating to statistics and figures of both the general NEET group, the various sub-groups and those deemed to be at risk of becoming NEET;
• barriers faced - details of the types of 'risk factors' and barriers likely to be faced by any of the above groups, in making the transition to education, employment or training;
• policy overview - information relating to how individual policy interventions relate to the national policy context;
• policy review - a summary of the effectiveness of the policy being reviewed;
• reviewer summary and comment - based upon both the effectiveness of the policy and any issues for future consideration ( e.g. future research or reliability of findings).

1.15 Depending on the nature and content of each document, it was not always possible to provide full details of each of the above 6 areas. For example, while some sources were more focused on statistics of the NEET group or sub-groups, others were concerned only with a description of the policy in question. The majority of the literature sourced could be classified as 'research reports', but there were also reports and articles based upon evaluations, data analyses and newspaper / magazine articles. A 'Literature Overview' document was also produced which offers a summary - by title - of all sources accessed during this study. This document also classifies these sources as research, evaluation, data analysis or other ( e.g. newspaper or magazine articles). This has been attached at Appendix 8.

STUDY LIMITATIONS

1.6 There are several issues which have implications for overall study findings. These are:

• Nature of the literature sources - most of the literature identified has focused upon a qualitative assessment of policy effectiveness ( e.g. the nature of the delivery environment / infrastructure to support policy delivery) and not quantitative impact assessments of policy effectiveness. While the more qualitative assessments are essential to understand, there are current gaps in the literature base relating to how - if at all - NEET policy interventions translate into positive outcomes, in the longer term. There are several reasons for this 'gap': 1) the level and type of longitudinal and cohort-based data required for such assessments is often in short supply, and 2) many NEET policies are not old enough to be able to make a reliable assessment based on outcomes and impacts. As such, the research and evaluation sources are often unable to offer conclusive evidence of policy effectiveness beyond inputs and outputs;
• Difficulties in measuring the NEET group - as has been noted extensively within the literature, undertaking measurements of the NEET group is a complex task. This is due to the transient nature of the group and corresponding difficulties in tracking their movements and outcomes over time. This presents challenges for all NEET-related research and literature. Furthermore, by offering 'snap-shots' of the size of the NEET group, this does not explain the nature of stocks and flows and how individuals within this group might have temporary NEET status or be more prone to moving in and out of ' NEET-ness';
• Timescales and resource to undertake the study, necessitating 'boundaries' on the focus of the study - all such studies will be limited in the extent to which every possible literature source can be accessed and examined. The sources which have been prioritised for this study have been based upon the guidance, signposting and expertise of the key players in the policy arena. While it can be expected that most of the relevant Scottish sources have been reviewed, this cannot be guaranteed. Nor can it be guaranteed that all relevant literature outside of Scotland has been reviewed. However, the researchers are confident that this has not impacted negatively upon a clear understanding of the study issues;
• Focus of the literature review - as noted in this Chapter, this study has focused on literature relating to EET-based polices. For this reason it has not been possible to undertake an analysis of the risks and barriers which different NEET sub-groups experience in making the transition to EET. Many of these risks and barriers have been picked up through the identified literature - as those which are specific to the NEET sub-group and those which are common across sub-groups - but this was not the prime focus for the study. As such, it should be noted that study results are limited in their ability to state with authority, the root causes of the existence - and, in some cases - persistence of the risk factors affecting NEET sub-groups;
• Literature bias - it is often the case that EET specialists have studied the 16-19 year age group from a particular stance ( e.g. educational or vocational) and have implicit or explicit motivations to 'champion' the agenda of a particular policy route / intervention. This can sometimes produce an imbalance in the literature, relating to the value placed upon each of the 3 components of EET.

STRUCTURE OF REPORT

1.17 The remainder of this report has been structured in the following way:

• Chapter 2 provides an overview of the key figures, statistics and classifications which have been identified through the literature review. These relate to the NEET group as a whole, those at risk of becoming NEET and the various NEET sub-groups;
• Chapter 3 offers an overview of the policy context surrounding the NEET group, through a wide range of policies which impact upon the NEET group. A range of classifications of these policies is presented. The policy agenda for both Scotland and England / UK has been detailed;
• Chapter 4 offers an analysis of policy effectiveness, based on the sourced policy literature;
• Chapter 5 offers some areas for future consideration, in relation to new research.

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