FAQs

For this funding round, we are open to appointing either:

• a lead partner or consortium
• a group of direct delivery partners
• a hybrid model that combines both approaches

The final delivery structure will be determined based on the strength, scale, and complementarity of applications received. No delivery model is pre-determined, and we are genuinely open to all three routes if they best enable us to reach 4,500 young people effectively.

The final delivery structure will determine how many organisations Youth Futures will fund in this round. For example, we could fund:

• one intermediary organisation; or
• up to eight delivery organisations, depending on the scale at which each organisation can deliver; or
• one intermediary organisation and up to four delivery organisations

The funding available will be dependent on how many young people your organisation can deliver the Building Futures programme to.

We expect the unit cost per young person to be approximately £1,200 – £1,400, which includes delivery costs (such as staffing and resources), core costs, and support for the impact evaluation.

Organisations invited to submit a stage two application will be asked to submit a project budget. Organisations should base this budget on the scale of delivery they can commit to.

No, you do not need to currently deliver a mentoring intervention to apply for this funding.

We welcome applications from delivery organisations that:

• Currently deliver a mentoring programme to secondary school students; and/or
• Currently deliver non-mentoring programmes in secondary schools

We welcome applications from intermediary organisations that will partner with delivery organisations that have the capacity and experience to deliver the Building Futures mentoring intervention.

We encourage intermediary organisations to refer to the criteria above when identifying suitable delivery organisations.

A mentoring programme will have the following features:

• A supportive and consistent relationship between a trusted adult (mentor) and a young person (mentee) that is focused on building trust and connection and fostering personal growth and development. The trusted adult should not be a family member or a teacher.
• A structure of regular touch points between the mentor and mentee over a sustained period of time. A proportion of this time should be dedicated to supporting the mentee 1:1 (with/without a formal structure) if the mentoring programme involves a group component.
• The programme should be targeted at specific young people or groups of young people i.e. not delivered universally
• Clear processes and structures for mentor/mentee matches, programme entry and programme exit.

A non-mentoring programme is any programme that does not meet the definition of ‘mentoring programme’ outlined above.

Yes, we will only fund organisations that will deliver the Building Futures mentoring programme, as defined by Youth Futures.

The core components of the Building Futures programme are specified in the application guidance. A more detailed programme specification will be shared during stage two.

We are open to delivery in any location in England, provided you can reach enough young people who are at risk of becoming NEET.

As part of your application, we will ask you to describe the geographic location(s) where you plan to deliver the programme and how you will reach young people who are at risk of becoming NEET.

A QED is an evaluation approach that compares outcomes for young people who received the programme (the treatment group) with a carefully matched group of similar young people who did not (the comparison group).

This approach uses statistical techniques to ensure the two groups are as similar as possible at the outset. By doing so, it enables us to determine whether any differences in outcomes were caused by the programme. This design is widely used in policy and education research where it is important to measure impact robustly while working within the realities of programme delivery.

If you would like to know more about this funding round and ask questions, you can register for our upcoming webinars taking place during December and January. 

We will be running the same webinar on four different dates. Please click on the links below to register for a webinar. 

• Tuesday 9 December 2025 14:00 – 15:00 GMT
• Friday 12 December 2025 10:00 – 11:00 GMT
• Thursday 8 January 2026 10:00 – 11:00 GMT
• Monday 12 January 2026 14:00 – 15:00 GMT