This report considers 11 youth employment programmes, spanning four decades of delivery. Its purpose is to gain a deeper understanding of the implementation of these interventions, their strengths and weaknesses, to show what works best in their design and delivery. Undertaken in 2025 by the Employment Related Services Association, the membership body of the employment and skills sector, the research and recommendations are supported by evidence from 17 semi-structured interviews with industry experts and four online roundtables, engaging 63 people in total.
This work was made possible due to Youth Employment Infrastructure Funding from Youth Futures Foundation (YFF). It funds this work in England only. ERSA may expand the remit of this research UK-wide in the future.
Based on ERSA’s findings, the report makes a series of commissioning and government policy recommendations. These aim to reduce the number of young people, aged between 16 and 24, not in education, employment or training (NEET), and to make high quality employment support accessible to all.
This report considers 11 youth employment programmes, spanning four decades of delivery. Its purpose is to gain a deeper understanding of the implementation of these interventions, their strengths and weaknesses, to show what works best in their design and delivery. Undertaken in 2025 by the Employment Related Services Association, the membership body of the employment and skills sector, the research and recommendations are supported by evidence from 17 semi-structured interviews with industry experts and four online roundtables, engaging 63 people in total.
This work was made possible due to Youth Employment Infrastructure Funding from Youth Futures Foundation (YFF). It funds this work in England only. ERSA may expand the remit of this research UK-wide in the future.
Based on ERSA’s findings, the report makes a series of commissioning and government policy recommendations. These aim to reduce the number of young people, aged between 16 and 24, not in education, employment or training (NEET), and to make high quality employment support accessible to all.