Effective Transitions Fund

This independent report by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) in partnership with the International Centre for Guidance Studies (iCeGS) and the Behavioural Insight Team, examines the impact and outcomes of our partnership programme with JPMorganChase.

The programme, backed by £2 million funding from the firm, aims to deliver targeted support and build the evidence base on effective careers education for disadvantaged young people at points of transition.

The objectives were to:

• Deliver targeted transition support to enable disadvantaged young people in Key Stage 4 to achieve sustained engagement in high-quality post-16 destinations.
• To build the evidence base of effective interventions for the target group by understanding the impact of long-term targeted support on achieving quality sustainable destinations.

Based on learning from the pilot identified in this report, the programme will now be expanded, backed by a further £2.5 million from JPMorganChase.

The pilot programme targeted disadvantaged young people, many of whom were at most risk of not remaining in education or training on leaving school, due to the barriers they face. It was implemented by 10 of our Careers Hubs.

The pilot set out to test what types of support worked best in breaking down barriers faced by disadvantaged young people, so they could move on to a sustained post-16 destination.

More than 1,000 young people facing barriers (e.g. living in high deprivation areas, mental health, low school attendance, exclusion) were part of the programme. Many faced multiple barriers.

The key findings are that, due to the impact of the programme, the post-16 education choices and life chances of the young people were significantly improved:

• 94% successfully transferred to college or training on leaving school at 16.
• 93% still on their course after six months, compared to 87.8% of all disadvantaged young people.

The IES report says there is strong evidence that young people will continue to sustain their studies as more than 90% are happy with their choices, the subjects that make up the course and the places they are studying.