Transitions from school to work: Applying psychology to ‘NEET’

Abstract

Transitions from statutory education to education, training or employment have not attracted much attention from psychologists, yet there is considerable interest from Government and local authorities in tackling the phenomenon known as Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). One young person in 10 leaving statutory education at 16 falls into this category. The field is rich in information, covering the negative impact on health and other outcomes for young people in the NEET category as well as current thinking about the responsibility for young people undertaken by the state and the nature of employment in a post-modern context. The authors are a local authority educational psychologist and a Connexions personal advisor who have collaborated in developing a local screening tool to identify young people who might be at risk of entering the NEET category. The paper describes the rationale for such development and outlines the steps taken. The evaluation includes evidence for the validity and reliability of the screening tool. It further includes personal accounts of the benefits of early identification in safeguarding young people who do not meet the usual thresholds for intervention by external agencies. Overall, it can be concluded that the method offers a practical and useful way of identifying vulnerable young people and ways of improving outcomes.