Activity Agreements National Implementation 2011-12

Summary of Key Findings

This paper provides a summary of reported participation in Activity Agreements during the second year of the national roll-out of the programme (1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013). The paper outlines characteristics and outcomes for young people that have either completed or dropped out of an Activity Agreement during this period.

Summary of Key Findings

Reporting here covers 2,266 young people from across 32 local authorities in Scotland. The data were gathered directly by local authorities and has been quality assured by the Scottish Government

Key Findings:

• Activity Agreements appear to be reaching their target group (the young and most vulnerable).
• Almost 3 in 4 participants (73%) are able to sustain their involvement and complete their agreed programme of support.
• Over two-thirds of leavers (69%) completed their agreement in 6 months or under, and 85% within 9 months.
• Around two-thirds of participants (67%) in total progressed on to further learning, training or work. This rises to 88% when looking only at those who completed their Activity Agreement.
• The most common destinations on completion are Further Education (27%) or training (36%).

Findings In More Detail:

Engagement:

• 73% of young people in the sample completed their Activity Agreement. The remainder dropped out before completing their agreed programme.
• The majority of young people were referred into an Activity Agreement through Skills Development Scotland (36%). A further 27% of referrals came through schools and 11% came from social work.

Activity Agreement Transition Outcomes:

Data on outcomes show that 67% in total went on to a participate in further learning, training or work. This rises to 88% when looking only at those who completed their Activity Agreement (excluding drop-outs), suggesting that completion of the agreed programme has clear benefits for individuals. The most common outcomes on completion were to National Training Programmes (Get Ready for Work, Training for Work, Modern Apprenticeships) (36%), Further Education (27%) and Employment (15%).

Factors that influence outcomes:

• Age: younger leavers (age 15 & 16) are more likely to go on to participate in learning or work.
• Gender: male leavers are slightly more likely to go on to participate in learning or work.
• Qualifications: those with qualifications are more likely to go on to participate in learning or work than those with no qualifications. In general, the higher the level of qualification, the greater the likelihood of a positive outcome.
• Substance misuse and history of offending: these issues appear to be associated with less positive outcomes from an Activity Agreement.
• Caring responsibilities: these have a complex relationship with outcomes; those caring for their own child were least likely to go on to participate in learning or work, while those caring for another relative were most likely to go on to participate in learning or work. However, the vast majority (90%) had no caring responsibilities, and two-thirds of this group went on to participate in learning or work.

Duration of support:

The data show that the majority of young people (85%) complete their Activity Agreement in under 9 months (69% in 6 months or under and 16% between 6 and 9 months).

Profile of Leavers:

• Most participants are aged 16-17 (80%) and there are slightly more males (55%) than females (45%)
• Levels of EMA receipt are similar to those reported in the pilot evaluation (45%)
• Just over half (51%) of leavers have no/unknown qualifications and a further 44% have low qualifications (between SCQF levels 1 and 4).