Qualitative Interviews with Key Stakeholders Across the UK to Discuss the NEET Agenda, 2016-2018

The data presented is derived from a three-year project (2016-2019), which was undertaken by the University of Oxford’s Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE), with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). It formed part of a project funded from the Open Research Area (ORA) for the Social Sciences to undertake a comparative quantitative secondary data analysis study of young people not in education, employment or training in the UK, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany and France to understand the causes and consequences of NEET status. Alongside the quantitative analysis within the UK strand of the research, a review of NEET policy interventions across the four UK nations was undertaken, to explore the absence of a UK-wide strategy or common approach to address the issue. An initial visit was made to policy makers with responsibility for the NEET agenda across the UK to discuss policy strategy and intervention, obtain policy background information and to secure their cooperation. This was followed by a two-or-three-day visit to each locality to conduct a series of face-to-face qualitative interviews (or telephone interviews) with key stakeholders, including representatives from government departments and agencies, charities, youth organisations and training providers. The interview transcripts from this stage of the research form the submission to ReShare. The final stage of the fieldwork comprised convening policy seminars in each of the four localities, in order to feedback initial findings and, crucially, to assess their accuracy as well as to identify shifts and changes in policy direction since the study visits.