A new study has found that meaningful engagement with employers before the age of 16 can dramatically improve life chances, with young people who experience high levels of employer engagement being 80% less likely to become NEET than their peers.
Published by education charity Education and Employers, the report reviews international evidence on employer engagement, work experience and young people's transitions from education into employment.
The report comes at a critical moment. Former Cabinet Minister Alan Milburn recently warned of a potential "lost generation" of young people, while OECD research shows that 46% of UK teenagers are uncertain about their future career options – almost double the figure recorded in 2018 and among the highest rates in the developed world.
The report argues that while work experience and employer engagement can play a transformative role in improving young people's prospects, access to these opportunities remains deeply unequal.
New research commissioned for the report found that 81% of work experience placements are currently arranged by young people or their families, meaning access is often determined by personal networks rather than need. More than three-quarters of school staff surveyed said family connections are the primary reason some young people benefit more than others.
The findings raise significant questions about how the Government's commitment to guarantee every secondary school pupil two weeks of work experience will be delivered fairly and effectively.
While schools and employers overwhelmingly support the ambition, many have serious concerns about the practical challenges involved.
The report estimates that delivering the Work Experience Guarantee for under-16s alone would require around six million placement days every year.
At the same time only 58% of Key Stage 4 students currently complete any work experience; 94% of teachers say job shadowing would be difficult or very difficult to organise; and 81% say workplace visits are difficult or very difficult to arrange.
Employers cite bureaucracy, limited capacity and competing demands as significant barriers to participation.
The report warns that without substantial support and infrastructure, there is a risk the policy could inadvertently widen existing inequalities, with the best opportunities continuing to go to the most well-connected young people.
Nick Chambers, Chief Executive of Education and Employers, said: "Britain cannot afford a system where opportunity depends on who your parents know. We now have compelling evidence that encounters with employers and workplaces can change the trajectory of a young person's life. Young people who gain meaningful experience of the world of work are more confident, more informed about their futures and significantly less likely to become disengaged from education and employment. Yet access to those opportunities remains deeply unequal. The young people who stand to benefit most are often the least likely to secure high-quality placements because they lack the networks and connections that others take for granted.
“The Government's commitment to two weeks' work experience for every young person is absolutely the right ambition. But ambition alone will not deliver outcomes. Without the right infrastructure, support and coordination, there is a real danger that we end up advantaging the advantaged and disadvantaging the disadvantaged.”
The report highlights wider concerns about the state of careers education and guidance in England.
Researchers found that current careers information systems are often difficult for young people and parents to navigate and do not reflect how young people search for information about jobs and careers today.
It calls for a modern, youth-focused national careers information service, alongside greater investment in employer engagement, work experience brokerage and targeted support for young people most at risk of becoming NEET.
The report sets out four potential options for government, education leaders and employers to consider, ranging from targeted support for disadvantaged young people through to a more ambitious national approach that combines careers education, employer engagement and work experience within a coherent system.
Education and Employers argues that the cost of getting this wrong will far outweigh the investment required to get it right. One of the report's authors estimates that each young person who becomes NEET costs the public purse approximately £54,000 over their lifetime.
