Intervention type

Mentoring and coaching

Collaborators

Home What we do Flagship programmes Building Futures: testing mentoring support

Building Futures is Youth Futures Foundation’s early intervention programme testing and scaling high-quality mentoring support for secondary school students at risk of becoming NEET. 

The system challenge

Too many young people face barriers during secondary school that increase their risk of becoming not in education, employment or training (NEET) later in life. Poor attendance, exclusion, low attainment and disengagement from school can all affect future employment outcomes. Building Futures seeks to understand how early intervention can help prevent these challenges escalating. 

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Our aim

To build robust evidence on how mentoring can reduce young people’s likelihood of becoming NEET and improve their wellbeing. By testing and evaluating mentoring at scale, we aim to identify what works and support wider systems change. 

What are we doing?

We are: 

  • Delivering structured one-to-one mentoring to young people at risk of becoming NEET. 
  • Testing and refining an evidence-informed mentoring model.
  • Working with schools to provide support during the school day.
  • Generating high-quality evidence on implementation, outcomes and cost-effectiveness.
  • Scaling delivery to reach 4,500 young people across England by April 2028.

Approach

Read more about Approach

Building Futures combines programme delivery with rigorous evaluation. The programme focuses on trusted adult relationships and personalised support for young people in Years 8-10. 

Participants will receive weekly one-to-one mentoring sessions over six months, delivered by paid and trained mentors in a school setting. Learning from the demonstrator phase of Building Futures has been used to develop the model and support effective delivery at scale. 

Outcomes

Read more about Outcomes

Building Futures aims to: 

  • Improve attendance and engagement in education. 
  • Improve behaviour and attitudes towards school. 
  • Improve wellbeing and social and emotional skills  
  • Reduce the risk of young people becoming NEET.   
  • Improve future employment prospects. 
  • Generate evidence on effective and scalable mentoring approaches. 

How does this build on previous work?

Read more about How does this build on previous work?

Building Futures launched with an initial test-and-learn phase delivered in partnership with Football Beyond Borders, supporting 500 young people between 2024 and 2026. Insights from this phase have helped shape the programme as it now expands to support 4,500 young people across England through four delivery partners. Alongside this increased reach, an independent evaluation will help strengthen the evidence base on how early intervention mentoring can improve engagement with education and reduce the risk of becoming NEET.

“With NEET rates in the UK continuing to rise, it is essential we identify the best interventions to prevent young people from falling out of work in the first place.

"Understanding what solutions work to support secondary school students facing barriers and reduce their risk of becoming NEET is key to creating lasting change and ensuring all young people can achieve and thrive in good work.”

Charlotte Matless, Head of Programmes – Building Futures, Youth Futures Foundation

Youth Inclusion

Young people were brought together for focus groups to help to shape Building Futures’ initial design.

A dedicated Youth Advisory Group has been established which will be engaged throughout the programme.

More about Youth Inclusion

Meet the partners

Building Futures brings together delivery, research and evaluation partners with expertise in youth support, evidence generation and impact evaluation.

All Partnerships
Premier League Foundation

Building Futures  · 

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Premier League Foundation
Delivery partner

ProgrammeBuilding Futures

Location

Evaluators

StatusActive

Website
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About

Premier League Foundation creates positive sporting, educational and personal development opportunities for children, young people and the wider community, using the power and reach of professional football club charities to improve lives and address important societal issues. Through its programmes, the charity supports young people facing a range of barriers and challenges, helping them to access opportunities and achieve their potential. Its programmes combine mentoring, skills development, education support and positive activities to help participants build confidence, resilience and aspirations for the future. 

Working with Youth Futures

As part of Youth Futures Foundation’s Building Futures programme, Premier League Foundation, alongside EFL in the Community, will deliver early-intervention mentoring to more than 2,800 young people across England through their network of football club charities.

Youth Federation

Building Futures  · 

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Youth Federation
Delivery partner

ProgrammeBuilding Futures

Location

Evaluators

StatusActive

Website
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About

Youth Federation works to improve the lives of young people through mentoring, skills development and access to opportunities. Supporting young people facing barriers to education, employment and wellbeing, the organisation delivers careers, employability and personal development programmes that help participants build confidence, develop workplace skills and achieve positive futures. Through tailored mentoring and strong employer partnerships, Youth Federation helps young people progress into education, training and employment.

Working with Youth Futures

As part of Youth Futures Foundation’s Building Futures programme, Youth Federation will deliver early-intervention mentoring to 565 young people across Cheshire, the Wirral and Stockport.

Power2

Building Futures  · 

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Power2
Delivery partner

ProgrammeBuilding Futures

Location

Evaluators

StatusActive

Website
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About 

Power2 helps children and young people build the confidence, resilience and life skills they need to thrive. Working across the North West, the West Midlands, Yorkshire and London, the charity supports young people experiencing low wellbeing, social disadvantage and disengagement from education. Through mentoring and personal development programmes, Power2 helps young people strengthen their engagement with learning, build positive relationships and raise their aspirations for the future.

Working with Youth Futures

As part of Youth Futures Foundation’s Building Futures programme, Power2 will deliver early-intervention mentoring to 565 young people across Greater Manchester and London.

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER)

Building Futures, Inspiring Futures, What Works: testing youth employment interventions  · 

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The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER)
Evaluation panel, Research & evaluation partner

ProgrammeBuilding Futures, Inspiring Futures, What Works: testing youth employment interventions

Location

Evaluators

StatusActive

Website
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About

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is a leading independent provider of education research with specialisms in large-scale mixed-methods evaluation, including RCTs and QEDs, and secondary data analysis. Its unique position and approach deliver evidence-based insights designed to enable education policy makers and practitioners to take action to improve outcomes for children and young people.

Working with Youth Futures

NFER collaborates with us on research and evaluation activity as a member of our evaluation panel.

This includes being an evaluation partner for our What Works: testing youth employment interventions and Building Futures programmes.

St Giles Trust

Building Futures  · 

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St Giles Trust
Delivery partner

ProgrammeBuilding Futures

Location

Evaluators

StatusActive

Website
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About

St Giles is dedicated to helping people facing disadvantage overcome barriers caused by poverty, violence, exploitation and involvement with the criminal justice system. Through mentoring, practical support and employability programmes, the charity helps young people build confidence, develop skills and progress into positive education, training and employment outcomes.

Working with Youth Futures

As part of Youth Futures Foundation’s Building Futures programme, St Giles will deliver early-intervention mentoring to 565 young people across London, the West Midlands and Bedfordshire.

We previously supported St Giles Trust to deliver its Choices programme as part of our What Works programme testing promising youth employment interventions.

Football Beyond Borders

Building Futures  · 

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Football Beyond Borders
Delivery partner

ProgrammeBuilding Futures

Location

Evaluators

StatusPast

Website
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About

Football Beyond Borders works with young people from areas of socio-economic disadvantage who are passionate about football but disengaged at school, to help them finish school with the skills and grades to make a successful transition into adulthood.

It’s standard programme offers a balanced schedule of weekly two-hour sessions divided between classroom-based learning and football activities, combined with therapeutic interventions, in-school pastoral care, and regular reward excursions during half-term breaks.

Football Beyond Borders’ practitioners are trained to become relatable, consistent and trusted adults in the lives of young people.

Working with Youth Futures

Football Beyond Borders has an excellent record of developing trusted relationships with young people in schools from areas of socio-economic disadvantage and experience in using therapeutic mentoring interventions.

This is why it is a delivery partner for the Building Futures programme, providing personalised support to up to 500 young people aged 12 to 15 over a whole academic year during the initial programme phase. 

Youth Employment Toolkit

Building Futures draws upon our Youth Employment Toolkit, which summarises current international evidence on the impact, cost and effectiveness of common interventions that are used to help young people get into work.

Explore the evidenceHow to use

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