Behavioural skills training provides valuable underpinning for entry and progression in work and learning. It may be particularly effective in supporting the completion of school leaving qualifications, as well as participation in apprenticeships.
Last updated: 26 August 2026
High positive impact
Well supported
Low positive impact
Consolidating
Low positive impact
Emerging
Low - unlikely to require intense, complex or specific resource needs for effective delivery
For every 100 young people who are NEET and take part in behavioural skills training as a component of a targeted youth employment intervention, around 4 additional young people are in employment 12 to 24 months later compared to similar young people who did not take part. This component could increase recent employment by around 4 percentage points.
Headline insights about this component based on current high-quality evidence
Positive
Particularly effective in supporting young people to gain school leaving qualifications such as GCSEs, and supports participation in apprenticeships, which in turn support employment outcomes.
The research suggests that the impact of behavioural skills training on secondary school completion is likely to be in the ‘high positive’ range, with a 99% probability of a positive impact, and over 80% probability that this will be in the ‘high’ range.
Achieving a school leaving or higher qualification is associated with better long-term employment prospects and a lower risk of becoming NEET. Good quality apprenticeships – delivered to those who are well-equipped to pursue them – can have a positive effect on employment, especially for young people from marginalised backgrounds.
Positive
Behavioural skills training is likely to have positive impacts on work quality for young people, including higher wages, longer hours in work, and being employed for longer.
The research suggests that behavioural skills training is likely to have moderate positive impacts on income (60% probability), employment duration and number of hours worked.
Subgroup analysis
The research suggests that impacts may be slightly higher for young people aged 16 to 20.
Impacts on employment are likely to inthe ‘moderate positive’ range for those aged 16-18. Work quality and education and training engagement outcomes are also likely to be higher for those aged 20 or younger, although the differences are relatively small.
Behavioural skills training focuses on developing positive work habits, attitudes, and behaviours that support success in the labour market. These may include punctuality, appropriate language, dress and communication.
Young people aged 16 and over with limited work experience, who can benefit from learning more about the skills needed for employment.
Any UK organisation — business, charity, public-sector body or social enterprise — that meets legal requirements such as:
Behavioural skills training can last few days or weeks, or a small number of hours within a multi-component programme.
Funding may come from diverse sources or from a mixture of sources including:
Behavioural skills training can support individuals to:
Behavioural skills training can support employers to:
Calculations are based on insights from available high-quality studies on the complexity of delivery requirements and estimated associated costs.
Based on existing evidence, we’ve identified some common features that support the commissioning, design and delivery of effective youth employment programmes:
Design, fund and deliver outreach and recruitment activities that raise young people’s awareness, with targeted initiatives to reach under-represented group who are most likely to benefit.
This might include:
Discover more about risk factors associated with being NEET.
Also consider how best to identify and engage the most suitable partners and employers for a programme. Engagement should be timely and clear, in ways that raise awareness and facilitate recruitment, enrolment, and sustained engagement.
Effective programmes may use direct community outreach activities for engaging under-served groups, alongside up-to-date local and administrative data, working with public employment services, or advertising vacancies along with eligibility criteria.
Design, fund and deliver programmes that tailor content and approach to the needs of the young people involved. This may involve a needs assessment at recruitment or orientation.
For young people who face additional social, personal, and psychological barriers, such tailoring may be more complex.
Some programmes use specialist content packages that have been developed by organisations with relevant expertise, often using research and evaluation evidence. Where these are used, seek a close match with the overall programme aims and suitability for a specific cohort of young people.
Examples include:
Organisations that work with young people who face additional social and psychological barriers to employment may seek out expert staff to deliver behavioural skills training, for example tutors with professional experience and/or training to deliver a specialised programme.
A strong relationship between policymakers, learning providers, employers, community organisations and local skills delivery organisations including Mayoral Strategic Authorities and Local Skills Improvement Plan areas supports effective youth employment support programmes.
Design, fund and deliver programmes that foster collaboration with education providers such as colleges to improve access to relevant teaching experience.
Support providers and delivery organisations to accurately and systematically capture and communicate data and milestones and track programme outcomes. This may include structured and standardised tracking forms, or developing realistic programme-specific performance frameworks.
For funders and commissioners – ensure recorded data, reporting and assessment captures a full range of appropriate and relevant youth employment and related outcomes to help rich understanding to ensure rich picture of what programmes do.
Encouraging reporting commonly recognised metrics allows evaluation to be easily comparable and included in the growing evidence base.
| Included studies | 49 |
|---|---|
| Location(s) | High-income countries |
| Outcome | Labour force status, earnings, employment duration, hours worked, and education & skills |
| Comparator | 'Services as usual' / Business as usual |
The Youth Employment Toolkit brings together evidence from robust studies in high-income countries that:
Find details of individual studies, as well as other systematic reviews of youth employment evaluations, in the Youth Employment Evidence and Gap Map.
More information about included studies can be found in page 55-60 of the full CNMA report. The specific evidence profile for behavioural skills training can be found on page 89.
The evidence strength ratings for behavioural skills training reflect the number of studies included in the meta-analysis. Studies were scored on reported design, sample size, approach to attrition, and definitions of interventions and outcome measures. More detail can be found in the technical guide.
The Toolkit does not include training where:
The current evidence can be strengthened by taking a consistent approach to incorporating standardised metrics for education, employment and training outcomes as well as outcomes that indicate work quality.
If you have feedback or a question about the Toolkit, please get in touch.
