29 May 2026
Milburn review: ‘Careers guidance is underpowered’
The interim report from Alan Milburn’s inquiry into NEET rates in the UK, coinciding with the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) reaching one million, is a hard-hitting summary of the state of support for young people.
While those working with young people will recognise many of the issues highlighted and solutions proposed, sometimes it isn’t just what is said, it is who is saying it. For these comments to come from a respected senior politician, for an inquiry instigated by the government, has more impact than the messaging or individual voices.
The report also includes significant representation of the voices of young people, used to highlight the real issues faced by those who are at risk of being NEET.
The report sets out the reasons for our persistently high NEET rate (work-limiting health conditions being a big recent driver, along with a reduction in the youth share of the labour market meaning fewer available opportunities) and highlights how the system is not working to encourage or support participation. It doesn’t set out firm recommendations – as an interim report it ‘does not pretend to contain the final answer. It is a diagnosis.’
Regarding careers guidance (as CEIAG is referred to by the UK Government), the report is supportive of the value it can add but critical of the inconsistency of application.
Encouragingly, the report doesn’t just focus on getting young people into work at any price. It extols fair work, a good job and the desire of young people to have a career, not just a job; ‘Even those furthest from the labour market, those with severe mental health conditions or care experience, described wanting a career, not just a job.’ This underlines the important role of careers guidance as opposed to focusing solely on employment support. Of course, young people will benefit from specialist employment support as they look to take their skills into work, but it is access to careers education, information, advice and guidance that will broaden their horizons, help them define their aspirations, create opportunities and prepare for setbacks throughout their careers.
It states that ‘Ensuring fewer young people leave school at risk of becoming NEET depends on getting the right balance in the school curriculum and the right exposure to work experience and careers guidance. That balance is still not right. Careers guidance has improved, but remains too unequal. Work experience is too often an afterthought. The young people who most need exposure to work are the least likely to receive it.’
Careers guidance was ‘widely described as generic and lacking practical value... They described feeling underprepared for their next steps and reported making decisions without a clear understanding of the options available.’ When we know some careers advisers get as little as 15 minutes to talk with young people they have never met before, this isn’t surprising.
NEET young people are less likely (36%) to feel ready for work when they leave education and ‘lack of adequate careers guidance at schools is an often-cited reason for young people not being prepared for the world of work.’ While the report recognises the value of the Gatsby Benchmarks, the increasing achievement of them by schools and the data showing that higher benchmark scores corresponds to lower NEET rates, it notes that access to careers guidance is unequal, with only 32% of young people saying they received face-to-face careers guidance, only 18% had a discussion about apprenticeships, fewer than half understand employer expectations and 35% felt they had the experienced needed for work.
The issue is that ‘Careers guidance is a statutory duty without enforcement, and work experience is haphazard.’ From my perspective, if all schools followed the statutory guidance to the letter, applied consistency for all young people (with additional effort targeted to those most in need) then the standard of support would be significantly higher. But with limited enforcement, highly variable levels of senior support, resourcing and funding for careers in schools, we know that for every amazing careers programme in one school, there is a paltry one in another. The fact that this is recognised in such a high-profile report will hopefully lead to more movement.
On work experience, the report finds that ‘Too many young people now leave full-time education with little or no direct exposure to working environments. OECD analysis of PISA 2022 shows that disadvantaged students are significantly less likely than their better-off peers to have taken part in workplace visits, job shadowing and other career-development activities that connect them to people in work. This matters because those early encounters with work do more than provide information. They build confidence, familiarity and a sense of what employment involves… the UK has among the lowest levels of work-experience participation internationally, with particularly low take-up among disadvantaged students. When exposure to work is weak, uncertainty about future pathways is higher and the transition into employment becomes more difficult.’
It talks about the defunding of careers services leaving parents, carers and families to find work experience opportunities for their young people – leaving some at a disadvantage where their family doesn’t have access to networks with roles they are interested in, or where families won’t or can’t offer such support.
The report is quite damning of the current curriculum approach, which is challenging for government given their own review resulted in relatively minor tweaks. The report cites young people and teachers increasingly feeling that the curriculum does not prepare young people for work (just 8% say it prepares people for their careers) and that the assessment system makes failure more likely for those most disadvantaged. There is too much emphasis on passing exams and ‘careers guidance is under-powered.’
While the focus of the report is on the education system for young people, it does note that ‘adult careers guidance provision is insufficient’ and support post-18 for young people becomes more limited.
Overall, this is a comprehensive diagnosis of the issues leading to a growing number of young people falling out of participation in education and work. There is much to gain from the report and the CDI supports its broad review of the role careers guidance plays. Where careers guidance is high quality, young people benefit and are not only less likely to be NEET, they are more likely to have fulfilling careers and lives. Where it is lacking, young people see fewer options, have less understanding of themselves and the world of work, and are less prepared for not only their next steps, but their lifelong career.
This, combined with a curriculum too focused on passing exams rather than real-world preparation, a declining entry-level jobs market and patchy employment support has created an environment that fails too many young people.
I look forward to the final report with recommendations for change, and the government’s response to the challenges it sets out.
Read the Interim Report from the Milburn NEET review.
While those working with young people will recognise many of the issues highlighted and solutions proposed, sometimes it isn’t just what is said, it is who is saying it. For these comments to come from a respected senior politician, for an inquiry instigated by the government, has more impact than the messaging or individual voices.
The report also includes significant representation of the voices of young people, used to highlight the real issues faced by those who are at risk of being NEET.
The report sets out the reasons for our persistently high NEET rate (work-limiting health conditions being a big recent driver, along with a reduction in the youth share of the labour market meaning fewer available opportunities) and highlights how the system is not working to encourage or support participation. It doesn’t set out firm recommendations – as an interim report it ‘does not pretend to contain the final answer. It is a diagnosis.’
Regarding careers guidance (as CEIAG is referred to by the UK Government), the report is supportive of the value it can add but critical of the inconsistency of application.
Encouragingly, the report doesn’t just focus on getting young people into work at any price. It extols fair work, a good job and the desire of young people to have a career, not just a job; ‘Even those furthest from the labour market, those with severe mental health conditions or care experience, described wanting a career, not just a job.’ This underlines the important role of careers guidance as opposed to focusing solely on employment support. Of course, young people will benefit from specialist employment support as they look to take their skills into work, but it is access to careers education, information, advice and guidance that will broaden their horizons, help them define their aspirations, create opportunities and prepare for setbacks throughout their careers.
It states that ‘Ensuring fewer young people leave school at risk of becoming NEET depends on getting the right balance in the school curriculum and the right exposure to work experience and careers guidance. That balance is still not right. Careers guidance has improved, but remains too unequal. Work experience is too often an afterthought. The young people who most need exposure to work are the least likely to receive it.’
Careers guidance was ‘widely described as generic and lacking practical value... They described feeling underprepared for their next steps and reported making decisions without a clear understanding of the options available.’ When we know some careers advisers get as little as 15 minutes to talk with young people they have never met before, this isn’t surprising.
NEET young people are less likely (36%) to feel ready for work when they leave education and ‘lack of adequate careers guidance at schools is an often-cited reason for young people not being prepared for the world of work.’ While the report recognises the value of the Gatsby Benchmarks, the increasing achievement of them by schools and the data showing that higher benchmark scores corresponds to lower NEET rates, it notes that access to careers guidance is unequal, with only 32% of young people saying they received face-to-face careers guidance, only 18% had a discussion about apprenticeships, fewer than half understand employer expectations and 35% felt they had the experienced needed for work.
The issue is that ‘Careers guidance is a statutory duty without enforcement, and work experience is haphazard.’ From my perspective, if all schools followed the statutory guidance to the letter, applied consistency for all young people (with additional effort targeted to those most in need) then the standard of support would be significantly higher. But with limited enforcement, highly variable levels of senior support, resourcing and funding for careers in schools, we know that for every amazing careers programme in one school, there is a paltry one in another. The fact that this is recognised in such a high-profile report will hopefully lead to more movement.
On work experience, the report finds that ‘Too many young people now leave full-time education with little or no direct exposure to working environments. OECD analysis of PISA 2022 shows that disadvantaged students are significantly less likely than their better-off peers to have taken part in workplace visits, job shadowing and other career-development activities that connect them to people in work. This matters because those early encounters with work do more than provide information. They build confidence, familiarity and a sense of what employment involves… the UK has among the lowest levels of work-experience participation internationally, with particularly low take-up among disadvantaged students. When exposure to work is weak, uncertainty about future pathways is higher and the transition into employment becomes more difficult.’
It talks about the defunding of careers services leaving parents, carers and families to find work experience opportunities for their young people – leaving some at a disadvantage where their family doesn’t have access to networks with roles they are interested in, or where families won’t or can’t offer such support.
The report is quite damning of the current curriculum approach, which is challenging for government given their own review resulted in relatively minor tweaks. The report cites young people and teachers increasingly feeling that the curriculum does not prepare young people for work (just 8% say it prepares people for their careers) and that the assessment system makes failure more likely for those most disadvantaged. There is too much emphasis on passing exams and ‘careers guidance is under-powered.’
While the focus of the report is on the education system for young people, it does note that ‘adult careers guidance provision is insufficient’ and support post-18 for young people becomes more limited.
Overall, this is a comprehensive diagnosis of the issues leading to a growing number of young people falling out of participation in education and work. There is much to gain from the report and the CDI supports its broad review of the role careers guidance plays. Where careers guidance is high quality, young people benefit and are not only less likely to be NEET, they are more likely to have fulfilling careers and lives. Where it is lacking, young people see fewer options, have less understanding of themselves and the world of work, and are less prepared for not only their next steps, but their lifelong career.
This, combined with a curriculum too focused on passing exams rather than real-world preparation, a declining entry-level jobs market and patchy employment support has created an environment that fails too many young people.
I look forward to the final report with recommendations for change, and the government’s response to the challenges it sets out.
Read the Interim Report from the Milburn NEET review.
0 Comments
New childcare offer aims to boost work participation in Wales
Welsh Government plans to deliver 20 hours of f...
29 May 2026
