Summary of Recommendations

‍Recommendations for National Government

1. Clear leadership: Youth Minister

‍An over-arching cross-department youth policy with oversight by a dedicated Youth Minister at the Department for Education with a remit and authority across departments.

‍2. Clear strategy: National Youth Strategy

‍A cross-departmental National Youth Strategy that prevents young people from falling between the gaps created by departmental silos.

‍3. Funding and accountability: Stable and joined-up funding and strengthened guidance

‍Dedicated, stable and joined-up funding is required. It should be supported by greater accountability from strengthened statutory guidance at national and local levels to put youth work on a surer footing with schools and facilitate more cross-sector working.

‍4. Enhanced opportunity: Elective Premium

‍An Elective Premium for increased learning opportunities in and outside school settings so that all young people can benefit from enrichment activities.

‍5. Teacher training and CPD: Youth work values and curriculum

‍Integrating youth work values and approaches into initial teacher training and CPD training to support the cross-collaboration and understanding between school staff and youth workers.

‍6. Workforce: Transition route from teaching to youth work

‍Offering a transition pathway to become a youth worker through a youth work qualification to reduce wasted talent.

‍7. Mobilisation: National taskforce

‍Focused on workforce planning across education and youth services, comparable to previous reviews of social work and early years.

‍8. Holidays and Food Programme: becomes Activities and Food Programme

‍Delivered throughout the year and provided by the youth sector to engage older teenagers.

‍Recommendation for Ofsted

9. Quality of external interventions and partnerships: Ofsted Inspection Framework

‍An enhanced inspection framework with further measures and metrics to assess quality, consistency and longevity of external partnerships that aim to support the personal wellbeing of young people.

‍Recommendation for school leaders

10. Partnership working

‍Support for, and encouragement of, partnership working with the youth service and local youth and community organisations to benefit young people’s wellbeing.

‍Recommendations for all stakeholders – national and local government, MATs, schools and the youth sector

11. Evidence: building the case for youth work with schools

‍Development of common metrics for measuring impact and investment in longitudinal research to demonstrate how youth work can support key educational outcomes, such as attendance, skills and employability.

‍12. A model approach

‍Review our model approach to youth work with schools to embed cost-effective support for young people’s wellbeing and education in school, in the local community and in other early help services (see p.38).