EdStart Schools is a group of specialist alternative provision (AP) and special schools in the north west. Sadly, we’re quite used to hearing the word “unlikely”.
Unlikely to sit GCSEs. Unlikely to attend college. Unlikely to last a week in a workplace. But the word that often comes next is the one that matters most: until.
Until they find a school where their challenges aren’t a barrier to support. Until they are met with understanding, not judgment. Until someone walks with them, not just through Year 11 but as they take their next steps, ensuring they have the tools and confidence to thrive beyond school.
The national picture makes for sobering reading. Among those leaving in 2022/23, 28.5 per cent of students in alternative provision didn’t sustain a post-16 destination for six months, five times higher than students from mainstream schools.
These are young people falling through the cracks at a critical juncture in their lives. Our response is to do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen. In fact, we’ve achieved zero NEETs – no students not in education, employment or training – across multiple Year 11 cohorts.
This is a statistic we’re incredibly proud of, and it doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because we treat destinations not as a final box to tick but as a core part of the curriculum.
From the moment students arrive, we begin building a picture of their strengths, interests and challenges – academic, emotional and practical. Each student receives one-to-one careers guidance, and by the start of Year 11 they’re working towards three viable post-16 offers.
We go with them to college open days. We call ahead to prep tutors. We rehearse interviews, plan travel routes and help budget for meals and transport. If needed, we walk through the first day with them until they feel confident and comfortable.
Alongside this, we run skills-focused sessions on CV writing, time-keeping and communication. We also tackle life scenarios like how to handle a missed deadline, repair a broken relationship or navigate conflict. We don’t just prepare students to get a place. We prepare them to keep it.
Zero NEETS doesn’t happen by accident
We do the same with families, many of whom have had years of fractured experiences with education.
We run parent workshops, explain how college systems work and keep up consistent contact by phone, message or visit). We even offer parents support with CV writing and filling in applications to help them get back into work. It’s a powerful way to build a culture of progression throughout the family.
To us, destinations and transition out of our school are a long-term commitment, well past July. If something wobbles in September, we step back in and help them pivot, or simply hold the safety net.
Take Ben. He joined EdStart after repeated suspensions from mainstream school. With ADHD and a history of low attendance, he (and his mum) had given up hope that he’d even sit GCSEs.
But in our smaller classes and with a more personal approach, he re-engaged, passed his GCSEs and discovered a love of cooking. Now, he’s studying for a Professional Chef foundation degree at University College Birmingham, with plans to open his own restaurant one day.
His mum was so inspired, she joined EdStart as an attendance officer.
Ben’s story may seem unlikely to many, but it isn’t unusual to us. Through opportunities like volunteering, work placements and real-world experiences such as budgeting or using public transport, we skill up our students to navigate past the barriers in their paths.
Succeeding after school isn’t just about ability. It’s about confidence, connection and continuity. It isn’t just about walking into a college, training course or job. It’s about feeling like you belong there.
A zero-NEETs approach takes high adult input and long-term persistence, but it works. Beyond the headline figure, it is transforming families’ and whole communities’ aspirations and prospects.
And the first step to achieving that is to transform our expectations of what is likely and what isn’t.
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