Helping young people access skills, apprenticeships and work
- Friday, October 2, 2026
- Posted By The Growth Company
The right support at the right time can change the course of a young person’s life. At the Growth Company (GC), we help young people build confidence, develop skills and access opportunities.
Whether that's securing a first job, completing an apprenticeship, gaining valuable work experience through a T Level placement, or accessing free and affordable travel to reach education and employment, our role is to help young people thrive while strengthening communities and local economies.
Alan Milburn’s interim Young People and Work review highlighted the scale of youth economic inactivity. It reported that around a million 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK were not in education, employment or training, equivalent to around one in eight young people. The findings reinforce the importance of timely, practical support that helps young people reconnect with learning and work.
Through our own insight, working with young people through our Youth Pilot programme we understand the challenges they face in accessing employment, training and education. This in turn helps inform our services, delivering tailored support to help young people build confidence, overcome challenges and move closer to work, training or further education.
Over the last three years, GC has supported 4,711 young people who were not in education, employment or training and delivered 2,480 apprenticeship starts.
Behind every statistic is a young person gaining access to skills, support or opportunity.
Young people like Max Fleming. At 14, Max faced significant challenges, including exclusion from school and undiagnosed ADHD, autism and dyslexia. Through alternative provision and hands-on experience, he discovered a passion for construction and became a carpentry and joinery apprentice with ConvertMy in 2023. Since then, he has been highly commended at the Construction Apprenticeship Awards and shortlisted for Apprentice of the Year at the Made in Manchester Awards.
His journey demonstrates how technical education can unlock talent, build confidence and create rewarding careers.
Supporting young people into meaningful careers also means helping employers understand how they can play their part. We work with businesses to navigate options such as T Level industry placements, apprenticeships and employment opportunities, helping them offer valuable workplace experience while developing their future talent pipeline.
Our work with employers to offer T Level placements for example, has opened up hundreds of opportunities for young people. Charlie completed an industry placement with KANE International, gaining hands-on experience in a live manufacturing environment. Recognising his potential, KANE offered Charlie an apprenticeship, creating a direct pathway from education into employment. Charlie described the placement as a life-changing opportunity that gave him a clear route into a career.
For many young people, the challenge isn't just gaining skills. It's overcoming the barriers that prevent them from accessing opportunities in the first place.
The Milburn Review highlighted that a lack of work experience and access to meaningful careers opportunities remains one of the most significant barriers facing young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Through our Job Guarantee programme we’re supporting businesses to understand the benefits of offering meaningful work placements. Combining this with tailored support, this is enabling more young people to gain valuable workplace experience, build confidence and develop the skills employers are looking for.
With sustained attention on youth inactivity, social mobility and employer skills needs, GC will continue to use delivery insight, practical support and employer partnerships to help more young people progress towards work, training or further education.
Helping young people take their next step is good for them, for employers and for the places they call home. That’s what inclusive and sustainable growth looks like.