The Spear programme has impressive, sustained results in turning around the life chances of NEET young people – those not in education, employment or training.
Rigorous benchmarking from the government’s Employment Data Lab shows definitively that charity Resurgo’s Spear programme is effective at helping NEET young people join the labour market. If all NEET young people received support this effective, we’d fill over 10% of the vacancies troubling British businesses and help 130,000 young people take a vital next step in their lives. In fact, this is faster than the rate at which the numbers of NEET young people fell during the UK’s last economic recovery post-2007, making the programme more effective at helping these young people than economic recovery.
With the UK’s workforce struggling for staff post-pandemic, the negative impact on the UK’s sluggish productivity and on businesses who need staff is clear. Yet the 711,0001 young people in this country who are NEET are not accessing these opportunities. The new evidence in today’s report of the effectiveness of the ground-breaking Spear programme, which gets NEET young people into work is very important news.
The Data Lab evaluated five years worth of data tracking young people who’ve been through the Spear Programme, which focuses not only on the hard skills needed to find work, such as CVs and interview training, but also on soft skills such as mindset change, making small talk and the hidden rules of the workplace. The evaluation tracked their outcomes for two years, looking at their employment status, how long they stayed in work vs being NEET, and how much they were earning.
Young people aged 16-24 are recruited onto the programme through job centres, referrals from other agencies and online advertising. An initial six-week phase includes group and one-to-one sessions run by highly trained coaches, followed by a year’s support to help young people not only into work, but also to progress in their careers.
The Spear programme is aimed at supporting those who are facing barriers to employment, including poor educational attainment, a criminal record or having spent time in the care system. Since its inception, 75% of those who complete the initial six-week training programme are in work or education a year later.
Resurgo Co-Founder and CEO, Jo Rice, said, “At Resurgo we have always sought to be ahead of the curve on impact management. The Employment Data Lab’s report now independently verifies that the Spear programme is highly effective and that its impact has a measurable, statistically significant impact on young people. We are delighted that the results are conclusive in demonstrating, without doubt, that we are positively impacting the employment outcomes, and therefore whole life chances, of the young people we serve in tangible ways. We look forward to expanding the Spear programme nationally, knowing that it will help young people turn their lives around.”
“That Resurgo was chosen for the pilot run of this innovative new service is a resounding endorsement of their commitment to gathering high-quality data on their programmes. We at Impetus are delighted to see Resurgo’s invaluable insight added to the evidence base for effective interventions that support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into sustained employment.” Steven Haines, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Impetus
The full Employment Data Lab report can be found on the government website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employment-data-lab
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