Insight: Making routes into work clearer and stronger

The Government’s plans to reform post-16 education come at an important moment for young people and the labour market, writes Nick Morgan, Deputy Operations Director at Reed in Partnership.

As Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has set out, “Our bold reforms will end the snobbery in post-16 education, supporting young people with real choice and real opportunity to build secure, future-proof careers.” That ambition is both welcome and necessary.

In our recent paper*,* ‘A three-lane superhighway into work: Practical measures to reduce NEET rates now and in the future’, we set out the case for urgent action to address the rising number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). Our new follow-up paper, ‘A three-lane superhighway into work: Making stronger post-16 pathways a reality’, builds on that work and focuses on how structural reform of post-16 education can support stronger, more consistent transitions into employment.

Concern about the way young people move from education into work has grown for good reason. Behind the statistics are young people with ambition, talent and potential who too often lack a clear and supported route into adult life. If we are serious about tackling economic inactivity, improving productivity and addressing long-term inequality, this is where we need to focus.

In the UK, young people broadly move into adulthood via one of three routes:

1. University
2. Apprenticeships
3. Direct entry into work

All three matter. All three need to be credible, accessible and valued. Yet in practice, these routes do not operate on an equal footing. The university pathway is well established and clearly signposted. Apprenticeships and direct entry into employment, by contrast, remain more fragmented and harder to navigate. It is outside higher education that the risk of young people falling out of work or learning is greatest.

The Government’s proposed introduction of V-levels has the potential to play an important role in addressing this imbalance. The ability to combine academic and vocational study offers a more flexible and realistic reflection of how many young people want to learn and progress. It also creates an opportunity to establish a clearer and more coherent system, in which different routes are better connected and more equally valued.

However, reform of qualifications alone will not be enough. Becoming NEET is rarely about a lack of aspiration. More often, it happens when the system fails to provide clear next steps, timely support or a way back in when early opportunities do not work out. A short period out of work or learning can quickly become something longer lasting, particularly for young people facing additional challenges such as poor mental health, neurodivergence or disadvantage linked to place.

Improving outcomes for young people therefore means improving how the whole system operates. That includes ensuring that level 2 pathways are high-quality, engaging and clearly linked to employment opportunities, given their importance in preventing disengagement. It also means strengthening the role of employers in shaping and supporting pathways, so that qualifications reflect real labour market demand.

Careers education and employer engagement in schools will be critical. Young people need access to clear information, meaningful experiences of work and the opportunity to build the essential skills that employers value. Without this, even well-designed pathways risk failing to translate into real opportunities.

Crucially, stronger education pathways must be matched by opportunities in the labour market and the support to access them. Employers ultimately determine whether young people are able to take that first step into work, and current economic pressures risk limiting the availability of early-career roles. At the same time, young people who do fall out of work or learning need rapid access to effective, structured support to help them get back on track.

Our paper argues that this requires a more joined-up approach, bringing together education reform, employer engagement and employment support. Nationally commissioned employment programmes have shown the value of intensive, personalised support delivered at scale, and there is a strong case for ensuring that young people can access similar support when they need it.

For employers, this is not only a social issue. With ongoing skills shortages and an ageing workforce, the long-term health of the labour market depends on how effectively young people are supported to enter and progress in work. Creating clear, supported routes into employment is both an economic necessity and a shared responsibility.

This paper is intended as the next step in an ongoing conversation with government, employers and partners about how we build a system that works better for young people. If we get this right, the Government’s reforms have the potential to deliver a more balanced, more connected and more effective set of pathways into work – and a step change in how young people are supported into sustained employment.

Read our new report here.