We welcome the government’s continued focus on youth employment and skills, including the extension of existing Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) Trailblazer pilots to 2028/29, alongside increased investment in apprenticeships and further education. These are steps in the right direction that reaffirm the value of vocational pathways and place-based approaches in supporting young people into sustainable work.
However, while the headline commitments are encouraging, the overall settlement remains cautious. For care-experienced young people, who face some of the greatest barriers to employment, this Spending Review falls short of what’s needed.
The Challenge for Care-Experienced Young People
Care-experienced young people are approximately three times more likely to be NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) than their peers. According to the Department for Education, 39% of 19–21-year-old care leavers were NEET in 2024, compared to around 13% of all young people in the same age group.
The most recent ONS data (July to September 2024) estimates 923,000 young people aged 16 to 24 in the UK are NEET. While care-experienced youth are not separately identified in these datasets, they are disproportionately represented due to systemic disadvantage.
These young people often contend with barriers that generalised policies alone cannot overcome:
What’s Missing from the Spending Review
1. Targeted Investment:
Despite increased investment in apprenticeships and skills, the Spending Review does not allocate specific funding to care-experienced young people or similarly marginalised groups such as young people with disabilities or neurodivergent needs.
2. Structural Safeguards:
New “foundation apprenticeships” for those without Level 2 qualifications are a welcome development, but without guaranteed access, pastoral support, and tailored progression pathways, these initiatives risk leaving out the young people they’re intended to support.
3. Adequate Funding Levels:
Total spending on adult education and apprenticeships remains well below 2010 levels. IFS analysis shows funding for adult education is still around 25% lower in real terms than in 2010–11, undermining ambitions to rebuild the skills base and widen participation among disadvantaged groups.
Policy Implications
If the government is serious about closing NEET gaps and transforming life chances, investment must be reshaped to reach those most at risk. This requires:
Including access to mental health services, stable housing, transport assistance, and digital access.
Long-term mentoring and guidance from consistent, reliable adults that help build confidence, ambition, and resilience.
Flexible, supported pathways that take into account each young person’s context—not just economic need or qualification level.
Our Call to Action
Our Care to Career model delivers this kind of tailored support every day—grounded in evidence, delivered by specialists, and backed by young people themselves. We know what works because we see the impact firsthand.
Now, we call on government, providers, and employers to work with us to turn ambition into action. If we truly want to create a level playing field, we must start by addressing the entrenched disadvantages faced by care-experienced young people.
Without them, no strategy on skills, productivity, or social mobility will ever be complete.
Join the movement
We believe in the potential of care-experienced young people. We’ve seen it every day for 15 years. What’s needed now is a system that recognises, supports, and champions that potential – from care to career.
If you’re ready to be part of that change, we’re ready to work with you.
#CareToCareer
Let’s make the future fairer.
