EVENT | The College Alliance International Conference - Wrexham

Overview of the Conference 

The College Alliance International conference explored the pivotal role of colleges in addressing unemployment, economic inactivity and social exclusion - including in respect of NEET young people and adults navigating complex transitions in work and life. Set within Coleg Cambria, a college deeply embedded in its community, the conference brought together policymakers, practitioners, researchers and learners from across the four UK nations, the Republic of Ireland and across Europe. 

A strong theme emerging from the conference was the need to look at the system rather than isolated interventions. Participants repeatedly returned to the challenge that education, employment, health and welfare services often work with the same individuals, yet operate under different targets, incentives and accountability frameworks. Although each aim to support people into sustainable work and better lives, misaligned outcomes and performance measures can ultimately limit collective impact.  

The conference involved unpacking a number of key themes, including:   

• how both policy-making and oversight of outcomes can be better managed at a national government level   
• how we can strengthen oversight and accountability locally across employment services, health services and education and training providers – including exploring where shared accountability is appropriate, and how this is governed    
• how transitions within education and training, and across wider public services - particularly at key life stages - can be strengthened,  redressing an area that suffers from poor join-up in many areas currently 
• how evidence and innovation can be used to inform systems rather than centrally direct them    
• the need to unpick the different groups involved, whether in NEETs or adults out of work – and to recognise that different interventions will be appropriate in different cases   

Throughout, colleges were recognised as having a key role to play as local anchor institutions that are trusted and well placed to bridge learning, employment and wellbeing, while working in social partnership with employers, communities and public services. There was a key question for colleges as to how far their role can extend here – and an appetite for exploring different approaches.   

Setting the Challenge: NEETs, Global Trends and the UK & Ireland Context 

What are NEETs — and why does the concept matter? 

NEET (young people not in education, employment or training) is not a single category but a broad descriptor covering young people with very different experiences, barriers and aspirations. This can be useful in describing a general trend and raising political focus on the issue, although the conference reinforced that NEET status captures a mix of very distinct groups, with different challenges, and for whom very different interventions will work. This includes those actively seeking work, where the issue is availability of jobs and so often a function of the national/ regional economy; those who lack the skills needed to secure work; those with the skills but who do not have sufficient work experience; those unable to work due to health or caring responsibilities; and those disengaged/ ‘missing’ from the system. Crucially, NEET status represents systems failure, often emerging at points where transitions between education, employment, health and welfare break down. 

Global and structural trends 

Hearing from the OECD, we saw that at a UK level, NEET numbers are higher than the OECD average; and moreover, that numbers for both unemployed and economically inactive NEETs are rising across the UK, where they are falling across the OECD.  

We saw that there are a number of structural pressures shaping NEET trends across the UK nations – some of which are particular to the UK, and others which are common across similar OECD nations: 

• A long-term decline in entry-level and part-time jobs traditionally accessed by young people 
• Reduced availability of work placements and informal labour market stepping stones, and low awareness of career opportunities amongst students in the schools system  
• Rising mental health challenges among young people 
• Persistent literacy, numeracy and language barriers affecting both youth and adults 
• Increasing complexity in navigating fragmented service landscapes 
• The impact of low growth and austerity programmes across a number of developed nations, meaning that public services have suffered from significant funding pressures, across employment services, local government and education providers.  

There are a number of trends across the UK which might point to the particular poor performance across the UK, as compared to comparable OECD nations.  This includes high levels of career uncertainty/ lack of awareness of job opportunities amongst young people and of opportunities to develop work experience, and a particularly stark decline in mental health amongst young people (an OECD-wide trend, but particularly stark across the UK).   

Five Types of NEETs — and Why Different Solutions Matter 

We discussed that different types of NEETs require different policy and practice responses. Eurofound have established five key NEET categories:  

1. Job-ready NEETs 

Individuals who are capable of work but lack access to opportunities. 

• Effective approaches: job matching, short employability programmes, apprenticeships, wage subsidies. 
• System gap: declining availability of placements and entry-level roles. 
• Conference challenge: how can colleges help fill this gap — including by offering placements within colleges themselves, and strengthening relationships with employers?  

2. Low-qualified NEETs 

Those with limited literacy, numeracy or formal qualifications. 

• Effective approaches: accessible foundational learning, contextualised literacy and numeracy. 
• International lesson: Switzerland’s focus on supporting low skills in work is strong. There is a need to ensure there are programmes for those out of work too.  
• Conference question: is there a case for an essential skills guarantee for adults and young people outside the labour market? 

3. Experience-deficit NEETs 

Individuals whose skills do not align with labour market demand. 

• Effective approaches: sector-linked training, employer-designed curricula, meaningful work experience. 
• System challenge: employers often find placements administratively difficult and risky. 
• Key role for colleges: acting as intermediaries to make it easier for employers to offer placements, and reviewing the administrative and regulatory burden for employers.  

4. Unavailable NEETs 

Those constrained by health conditions, caring responsibilities or life crises. 

• Effective approaches: holistic, wraparound support and realistic progression timelines. 
• System misalignment: health, employment and education services often pursue different outcomes for the same individuals, creating conflicting pressures rather than coordinated support. 

5. Socially disconnected NEETs 

Individuals alienated from institutions, often with low confidence and trust. 

• Effective approaches: outreach, mentoring, community-based engagement, social partnership. 
• Case study insight: initiatives like Belgium’s DUO for a JOB demonstrate the power of relational, personalised support — but raise questions about how such programmes connect to wider systems rather than operating in isolation. 

Across all five groups, participants stressed that alignment of outcomes matters as much as intervention design. When agencies are held accountable for different metrics, collaboration becomes harder — even when goals are shared. 

Characteristics of Adults Furthest from Employment

Adults furthest from opportunity face a complex web of personal, structural and systemic barriers that can prevent them from re-engaging with education and employment. Colleges are identified as vital "anchor institutions", well positioned to address these hurdles through person-centred support and integrated service delivery.

Adults often navigate a "life-course" of disengagement driven by diverse and overlapping challenges:

• Psychological and Emotional Hurdles: Many adults carry shame, fear, or a deep-seated mistrust of institutions due to negative prior educational experiences. This often leads to a misrecognition of their own potential, where individuals feel they have "nothing to offer".
• Structural and Logistical Constraints: Practical barriers such as caring responsibilities, work obligations, financial instability and lack of transport (particularly in rural areas) significantly hinder participation. In Northern Ireland, specifically, high rates of economic inactivity (26.9%) are linked to long-term health conditions and a substantial disability employment gap.
• Systemic Fragmentation: Services such as health, welfare and education often operate in "silos," driven by different targets and incentives, making it difficult for adults to navigate the fragmented landscape.
• Qualification Mismatches: According to OECD data for 2023, England (UK) shows a higher percentage of qualification mismatch than many other nations, with a substantial portion of employed adults aged 25–65 being classified as over-qualified for their current roles.  Many individuals, including graduates and school leavers, possess adequate education but fall into an "experience trap" where they cannot secure entry-level roles because they lack previous work experience. Economic shifts have resulted in a decline in entry-level and part-time roles traditionally accessed by those starting their careers.  There is also a significant "field of study mismatch," where workers are employed in areas unrelated to their education. 

International Lessons — and What They Reveal About Systems 

The conference international case studies reinforced that successful models are rarely just one-off programmes; they are embedded within coordinated systems. 

Austria 

Austria’s Youth Guarantee is underpinned by a clear national obligation to remain in education or training, supported by strong vocational pathways. "Coordinating Offices" act as frontline points of contact, mapping regional services and using data systems to proactively reach out to those who have fallen out of the educational system. This highlights the value of prevention and early intervention — but also the importance of clear accountability across government. 

Belgium (DUO for a JOB) 

DUO for a JOB is an intergenerational mentoring programme that matches young job seekers from migrant backgrounds with professional mentors to provide six months of personalised career support. By using a model of "warm professionalism," the initiative is highly successful, seeing 7 out of 10 mentees transition into employment, internships, or training while simultaneously valuing the experience and social participation of senior citizens. 

Switzerland 

Switzerland’s lifelong learning model demonstrates strong support for literacy and skills within employment. However, it also exposes a gap in provision for those outside work — reinforcing conference calls for more inclusive foundational skills strategies. Their GO Model provides a template for workplace-oriented learning. Instead of general courses, colleges offer short, hands-on training delivered on-site, requiring colleges to act as consultants for employers to ensure basic skills are transferred effectively.

European adult learning perspective 

The EAEA contribution broadened the discussion beyond youth, emphasising that disengagement is often a life-course issue. Adult learners facing redundancy, ill health or caring responsibilities need flexible re-entry points — an area where colleges already play a critical role. A vital insight from the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA) was that outreach is not marketing—it is a learning moment in itself. The way institutions approach a person determines whether they feel "seen or judged".

• Reframing Identity: Projects like MOVE-UP show the value of recognizing informally acquired skills. For example, reframing "motherhood" as an asset in conflict resolution and time management can lower the emotional barriers to re-entering learning.
• Learner Voice: The ENHANCE project argues that structures should be created for learners to influence policies and governance, moving them from "participants" to "directors" of their own learning pathways.

Northern Ireland 

Northern Ireland faces high levels of economic inactivity and disability-related exclusion. Case studies highlighted colleges acting as front doors for re-engagement, using mentoring, confidence-building and barrier removal, particularly where individuals distrust other institutions. 

Scotland

Dundee and Angus College are working with partners across the region (including the council, NHS etc) to pioneer a "Shared Front Door" approach. By integrating health, housing, and education services into a single triage system, the college is helping to regenerate the town centre and simplify access for the public to local services. This place-based approach creates and multi-agency “one-stop” model. Challenges included persistent gaps in progression and the difficulty of sustaining collaboration when accountability and funding sit in silos. 

Wales 

The Wales session focused on the development of a new 14-19 learning and progression pathway designed to improve participation, break down barriers, and ensure learners are ready for the world of work. A central theme was the importance of local collaboration between schools and colleges, with a proposal for a new legal duty to work together to develop regional learner pathways. This vision is supported by Medr, the new tertiary regulator, which aims to enable a system centred on learner needs, wellbeing, and the alignment of skills with the specific economic requirements of Wales.

England 

England highlighted the complexity of navigating a fragmented provider landscape, but also the potential of strong college networks to create coherent local pathways when collaboration is incentivised. Participants reflected that greater flexibility in post-16 study programmes may help explain higher engagement among some learners. 

Cross-Cutting Reflections and Implications 

Coordination and Collaboration

A central theme was the evolving role of colleges as local anchor institutions, acting as a “front door” to both learning and wider opportunity within their communities. This vision depends on building robust local ecosystems rooted in collaboration rather than competition, with schools, colleges and universities working together to create seamless learner pipelines. It also requires stronger coordination across services, including integrated multi-agency hubs built around a “Shared Front Door” model that brings together multidisciplinary teams from health, housing, and education to support community regeneration. 

Reframing Outreach as a Learner-Centred "Learning Moment"

The conference highlighted that where mistrust of institutions exists, effective outreach requires more than promotional activity and instead depends on sustained relationship-building. Approaches centred on trust and mentoring were shown to be particularly impactful, with one-to-one support and a form of “warm professionalism” helping individuals build confidence and a sense of belonging before attention shifts to qualifications or formal progression routes. In addition, successful initiatives emphasised learner agency, recognising participants as active shapers of their own learning journeys rather than passive recipients. Embedding formal mechanisms to ensure learners’ voices inform programme design and policy was identified as essential to strengthening engagement, ownership, and long-term participation.

Addressing the Complexity of Life-Course Exclusion

The conference emphasised that both “NEET” and “economically inactive” populations are highly heterogeneous, and therefore require holistic support that goes beyond addressing skills gaps alone. Exclusion was framed as a life-course issue, reflected in persistently high levels of adult economic inactivity and a significant disability employment gap, underscoring the need for tailored and flexible re-entry pathways into work. A marked decline in mental health was also highlighted, with NEET individuals reported to be twice as likely to have a health condition. In response, the conference stressed that effective basic skills provision must be workplace-contextualised and complemented by consulting support for employers, ensuring that newly developed skills are successfully transferred and embedded in the job environment.

Questions 

Across sessions, several unresolved but critical questions emerged: 

• Outcome alignment: How can health services, Job Centre Plus and colleges align around shared outcomes for individuals, rather than parallel targets? 
• Transitions: How do we close the gaps between services at key life stages - especially 14–16, post-16 transitions, and re-entry after inactivity? 
• Accountability: Who is accountable for collective success locally, and how is oversight shared across government nationally? 
• Flexibility: Why is post-16 provision often more engaging for learners than pre-16 - and what can be learned from this for the pre-16 system? 

• Language and ESOL: With ESOL pathways sometimes stretching over six years, how can fast-track and “ESOL-plus” models enable people to learn language alongside vocational study?  

   

The conference made clear that tackling NEETs and labour market exclusion is not primarily a question of finding new programmes, but of making systems work better together. 

Across all contexts, transitions emerged as a major fault line: between school and post-16, between education and work, between health services and employment support, and between youth and adult systems.

Colleges are already operating at the intersection of education, employment and community life. With better aligned outcomes, clearer accountability and stronger social partnerships, they can play an even greater role in enabling people of all ages to access good work and live healthy, prosperous lives.