My 16–18-Year-Old Isn’t in Education, Employment or Training – What Can I Do?
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Your young person has left school.
College hasn’t worked out.
They’re not working.
Applications aren’t going anywhere.
Or perhaps they spend most of their time at home and seem to have lost confidence about what comes next.
As a parent or carer, it can be difficult to know what to do.
You might have tried encouraging them.
Pushing them.
Giving them space.
Searching for jobs.
Talking about college.
And asking the same question:
“What do you want to do?”
But what happens when the answer is:
“I don’t know.”
At Genuine Futures, we believe that can be a starting point rather than the end of the conversation.
First: Your Young Person Is More Than a NEET Statistic
You may hear professionals use the term NEET.
It stands for Not in Education, Employment or Training.
It describes a young person’s current situation.
It should not become their identity.
A 16, 17 or 18-year-old who isn’t currently in education or employment hasn’t failed at life.
They may simply not have found the right route yet.
The question should therefore move from:
“What’s wrong with them?”
to:
“What might help them take their next step?”
That change matters.
Why Might a Young Person Become NEET?
There is rarely one simple explanation.
A young person may have:
- struggled at school
- experienced exclusion or persistent absence
- left college because the course wasn’t right
- applied for jobs without success
- experienced care or instability
- had contact with youth justice
- struggled with confidence
- found traditional classroom learning difficult
- lacked work experience
- had limited transport or financial options
- lost trust in services
- simply had no idea what career they wanted.
Sometimes there isn’t a dramatic event at all.
A young person can gradually become disconnected.
One missed week becomes a month.
A college course ends.
Applications receive no response.
Confidence falls.
Their routine disappears.
And eventually staying at home starts feeling easier than trying again.
That is why early support matters.
Don’t Start With “What Job Do You Want?”
For a young person who has lost confidence, that can feel like an enormous question.
They may genuinely have no idea.
Try smaller questions.
What do you enjoy doing?
Would you rather work indoors or outdoors?
Do you prefer working with people or getting on with a practical task?
Would you like to make something?
Fix something?
Sell something?
Help people?
Work with vehicles?
Use technology?
Be active rather than sitting at a desk?
These conversations can reveal possibilities.
A career doesn’t always begin with choosing a job title.
Sometimes it starts with discovering:
“I’m actually quite good at this.”
Practical Experience Can Unlock Something Different
Not every young person learns best in a classroom.
Some need to experience work before they can imagine themselves doing it.
A practical opportunity can develop:
- confidence
- communication
- teamwork
- punctuality
- customer service
- responsibility
- problem solving
- workplace behaviour
- independence
- skills for a CV
- references and connections.
Most importantly, it can give a young person something positive to talk about.
Instead of:
“I’ve done nothing for six months.”
they can begin saying:
“I’ve been working with customers.”
“I’ve learnt how to valet cars.”
“I’ve helped at an event.”
“I’ve met an employer.”
“I’ve got something for my CV.”
“I’ve realised I’m interested in that.”
Those apparently small changes can be significant.
What Can Parents and Carers Do?
If you’re worried about a 16–18-year-old who isn’t in education, employment or training, there are some practical steps you can take.
1. Start With Listening
Before presenting another course, vacancy or programme, try to understand what happened.
Ask:
What didn’t work about school or college?
What would you definitely not want to do again?
What would make trying something new easier?
The answers may tell you more than asking what career they want.
2. Look for Strengths, Not Just Qualifications
Qualifications matter, but they aren’t the complete picture.
Think about what the young person naturally does well.
Are they:
practical?
creative?
good with people?
good with technology?
entrepreneurial?
good with vehicles?
sporty?
organised?
good at fixing things?
confident online?
caring?
resilient?
A strength can become the beginning of a pathway.
3. Rebuild Routine
Long periods without education or employment can remove structure from someone’s week.
A realistic first step might therefore be one regular activity.
Not five days.
Not immediately securing a full-time job.
Just somewhere they need to be.
Someone expecting them.
Something useful to do.
Then build from there.
4. Find Real Opportunities
Look beyond courses alone.
Explore:
work experience • volunteering • enterprise • practical tasters • employer visits • community projects • mentoring • apprenticeships • training • college • supported employment
Different young people need different routes.
5. Don’t Wait Until Everything Becomes a Crisis
If you can see a young person becoming increasingly disconnected, seek support early.
Months spent isolated from education, employment and positive relationships can make re-engagement more difficult.
Prevention matters.
What If They Refuse Help?
This can be particularly difficult for families.
You find an opportunity.
They refuse.
You arrange something.
They don’t turn up.
You talk about jobs.
They shut down.
It is tempting to conclude:
“They just don’t want help.”
But sometimes refusal is communicating something else.
They might fear failing again.
They may not trust the person or organisation.
They may feel embarrassed.
They might not understand what will happen.
Or the opportunity simply might not connect with anything they care about.
This doesn’t mean there should be no expectations.
Young people need boundaries, responsibility and encouragement.
But engagement usually works better when something feels relevant to the young person themselves.
What If They Don’t Have Much on Their CV?
We see possibility where somebody else might see an empty CV.
A young person can build experience.
That could include:
work experience
volunteering
enterprise
training
qualifications
customer service
community projects
references
practical skills
teamwork
leadership
Everyone’s CV starts somewhere.
The important thing is creating the first meaningful opportunity to put something onto it.
How Genuine Futures Supports Young People in Bolton
Genuine Futures CIC works with young people who may be NEET, care experienced, at risk of exclusion, involved with youth justice or facing other barriers to employment and education.
Our approach combines:
trusted relationships
lived experience
employability
enterprise
practical opportunities
community
employer engagement
progression support
We don’t expect every young person to follow the same pathway.
Instead, we help them explore what might work for them.
Boss Your Future
Our Boss Your Future programme helps young people build confidence, explore employment and enterprise, meet employers and develop skills and experience.
It isn’t simply about writing a CV.
It is about helping a young person discover what they can contribute.
We Shine Any Car
Through We Shine Any Car, young people can experience a real youth-led social enterprise.
They can learn about vehicle cleaning and valeting while developing customer service, teamwork, communication, health and safety, enterprise and workplace skills.
They aren’t pretending to run a business.
They are participating in one.
We’re not just cleaning cars. We’re changing lives.
Clean Futures
Clean Futures creates further opportunities through practical cleaning and environmental services.
It provides another environment where young people can gain experience while delivering something useful for communities and organisations.
These enterprises help us create something we believe is particularly important:
real responsibility in a supported environment.
What Does Success Look Like?
Success isn’t identical for every young person.
For one person it might be securing a job.
For another:
returning to college.
Starting an apprenticeship.
Completing work experience.
Launching a small enterprise idea.
Getting a qualification.
Building a CV.
Developing confidence.
Turning up consistently.
Meeting an employer.
Or simply believing for the first time in months:
“Maybe I can do something.”
The destination matters.
But so does the journey towards it.
A Message to Parents and Carers
If you’re worried because your 16, 17 or 18-year-old isn’t currently in education, employment or training, don’t assume their future has already been decided.
And don’t feel you need to identify their entire career before asking for help.
Start smaller.
What is the next positive step?
A conversation.
A visit.
A taster session.
A few hours of work experience.
Meeting somebody with lived experience.
Trying a practical activity.
Meeting an employer.
Sometimes one opportunity creates the confidence needed for another.
Looking for Support in Bolton?
If you are a parent or carer looking for support for a young person aged 16–18 in Bolton who isn’t currently in education, employment or training, contact Genuine Futures.
Tell us a little about the young person, what has happened so far and what they might be interested in.
If we’re able to help, we’ll explore the next step.
And where another organisation or service is better placed to support them, collaboration and appropriate signposting should be part of the solution.
Genuine Futures CIC
Bridging the gap to opportunity.
hello@genuinefutures.co.uk
genuinefutures.co.uk
Know a Young Person Who Needs an Opportunity?
Refer a young person to Genuine Futures and start with a conversation.
Because we shouldn’t have to wait for a young person to reach crisis before creating an opportunity.
See the person. Not the label.