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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

RESEARCH CONTEXT

1. Determined to Succeed is a £86 million long-term Scottish Executive strategy, which aims to prepare young people for the world of work through enterprising and entrepreneurial learning, work-based vocational learning and appropriately focused career education. There are teams in place throughout all 32 Scottish local authorities to ensure delivery from 2003 - 2008. Following the recommendations of the Review of Education for Work and Enterprise set up in September 2001 the Scottish Executive set out its Determined to Succeed ( DtS): Enterprise in Education (EinE) strategy. The results reported here are key findings from a small-scale qualitative study carried out by the National Foundation for Educational Research ( NFER) between February 2005 and October 2005 which examined the potential contribution of DtS to improving the outcomes of young people at risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) in both mainstream and non-mainstream settings. This research constitutes an additional element of phase 1 of the national evaluation of DtS, which is published separately. ¹

2. The DtS strategy sets out the key changes that are considered to be needed to encourage a more enterprising culture - a "can do, will do" attitude - among all schoolchildren in Scotland. It enables all Local Authority ( LA) Education Departments in Scotland to work together with schools, business organisations, businesses, and other parts of the community to design and implement their own delivery plans setting out their targets and time-tables for action. Within these plans, LAs are required to address the recommendations of the Review of Education for Work and Enterprise in the context of local needs.

3. The overall aim of this additional element of phase 1 of the national evaluation of DtS was to identify the range of activities taking place in local authorities as a result of DtS, which may impact on young people at risk of becoming NEET. It also aimed to examine the context within which such activities were taking place, including their links with other relevant policies or initiatives and to examine the extent to which activities were developed by individual schools or within school clusters. In addition, it aimed to explore activities delivered through the mainstream curriculum as well as those outside the core timescale through external partners.

4. Interviews were conducted across eight local authorities ( LAs) with six Directors of Education (or their Deputies) and eleven Local Authority staff with responsibility for overseeing and developing strategies relevant to young people at risk of becoming NEET. In addition, case study visits were carried out to ten projects or programmes providing activities for the "at risk" group across six purposefully selected LAs. Case study interviews were conducted with eighteen provider staff involved in delivering educational alternatives to the target group and twenty-four young people participating in such projects or programmes.

5. The NFER research team also drew on evidence from the phase 1 evaluation of DtS, including interviews with DtS co-ordinators in all 32 Local Authorities and 61 school staff across 18 schools.

6. The study also involved a focused review of key documents in order to draw out key messages relating to good practice in the delivery of activities aimed at disaffected young people/those at risk of becoming NEET.

RESEARCH FINDINGS

5. The key findings from the research are presented below:

Findings from the literature

• Disaffected young people need to be offered activities which are meaningful and relevant to them and in which they can participate on a voluntary basis.
• Projects are more likely to keep disaffected young people engaged which give them ownership, provide an alternative learning environment from school, and address the needs of the individuals in a holistic way.
• Previous evaluations have shown that projects are more likely to achieve and sustain successful outcomes which set clear targets, offer opportunities of recognising young people's achievements, work together with other agencies and support participants in their transitions into other education, training or employment options.
• The skills and qualities of project staff are key to re-engaging, motivating and helping disaffected young people to progress. To this end, they need appropriate support and training to achieve maximum impact.

The Local Authority perspective (February - October 2005)

• Three of the eight authorities contacted as part of this study had specific targets relating to the "at risk" group, while three others had no targets but had implemented some activities aimed at disaffected young people
• Authorities which reported higher levels of young people at risk of becoming NEET were more likely to have implemented targets or activities aimed at the target group in response to DtS
• Responsibility for monitoring and addressing the needs of the target group were shared by a variety of organisations and agencies across the eight LAs and half of them appeared to have established "joined up" approaches to addressing the issues of the "at risk" group
• Interviewees in three of the eight authorities contacted were aware of formal LA-wide systems for identifying and monitoring young people deemed to be at risk of becoming NEET
• Six of the eight LAs reported that they had implemented at least some new activities aimed at the "at risk" group in response to DtS. Most of these were aimed at expanding vocational learning opportunities.

Case study findings - Provider and young people's perspectives
(February - October 2005)

• Although awareness of the details of the DtS strategy was relatively low among provider staff (providing educational alternatives for young people at risk of becoming NEET), many thought that it had impacted directly on their provision for the "at risk" group
• About half of the projects visited were specifically targeted and designed for young people in the "at risk" group. The remaining projects were not intended to be solely targeted at these young people, although it was perceived that these particular pupils would benefit most from the provision. Young people were generally recruited onto projects through schools
• The case study providers were offering a range of types of provision, including alternative curriculum projects, vocational education programmes and pupil support programmes
• A range of outcomes for young people were identified by both the provider staff and the participants interviewed, including the achievement of qualifications, personal development, the development of skills and impacts on future choices
• Factors, such as learning in a different environment, receiving one-to-one support and having the opportunity to build positive relationships with adults were perceived to facilitate successful outcomes for young people
• Main barriers for young people to the achievement of successful outcomes were home backgrounds and personal circumstances
• All of the providers implemented some form of individual-level monitoring of participants' attendance and behaviour although formal evaluation and review of their provision were less common
• Most of the providers had established links with other organisations, most commonly to help with the delivery of their provision, to provide additional support to young people, and to help with the recruitment of participants
• Providers were generally satisfied with the support they received from their Local Authorities, although a few interviewees reported that they would like more recognition, and further promotion of their work
• Providers identified a range of challenges that they had encountered in setting up and running provision for young people in the "at risk" group. These included problems in securing adequate funding, a lack of facilities and resources and difficulties gaining credibility with other organisations.

Conclusions and recommendations

6. This study has confirmed many of the findings of previous research relating to good practice in the delivery of projects and activities for young people at risk of becoming NEET. It has also shown that the "at risk" group is not homogeneous and that it includes young people with a variety of, and at times complex, support needs which have to be addressed in different ways.

7. This means that provision aimed at the "at risk" group needs to be both flexible and diverse. It cannot rely on one type of provider alone, but should involve a variety of organisations and agencies which have the skills and expertise to address young people's needs in a professional way. Schools, providers and other agencies should work closely together to provide a continuous and consistent service to this vulnerable group of young people.

8. The study has shown that even though the DtS strategy did not contain any specific recommendation relating to the "at risk" group, it had enabled some authorities to expand, and in some cases initiate new, provision. However, this was not the case in all LAs. This appeared to be linked with various factors. Some authorities were still at an early implementation stage and had focused most of their resources on building up DtS strategic and operational structures. There was evidence that some of these LAs were planning to put more emphasis on addressing the needs of young people at risk of becoming NEET in subsequent years. In other areas, this lack of focus was linked with a view that DtS activities should be offered to all pupils and not just to the disaffected ones. However, some of these authorities contended that even though not targeted at them, many of the DtS-funded activities or curricular changes were particularly suitable or beneficial for the "at risk" group.

9. The Scottish Executive needs to consider the extent to which all local authorities should be required to develop DtS targets aimed at reducing the number of young people who become NEET and to implement specific provision aimed at this group. It may also consider putting in place additional support structures for those local authorities with less experience or expertise in this area.

10. The Scottish Executive may also wish to consider working with local authorities to establish more joined-up approaches and strategies for monitoring and addressing the needs of the "at risk" group before and after leaving school.

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