The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people’s experiences of careers support: A UK-wide and youth-centred analysis

Abstract

Young people have been among the hardest hit groups during the COVID-19 pandemic, experiencing disruptions to their education and facing challenging transitions to the labour market (Wilson & Papoutsaki, 2021). This paper analyses data from research conducted by the Institute of Employment Studies (IES) during the pandemic involving 1,345 young people aged 16-25, both in education, employment and not in education, training or employment across the UK, at different points in time (April-September 2021). The mixed-method research adopted a youth-centred approach to explore the impact of the pandemic on young people’s experience of careers support. The analysis gives young people a voice and highlights three key ways in which access to careers support can be improved. These findings have implications for leaders across government and education around the development young people’s careers support following the pandemic.