Key Findings

Findings on the Hair to Train programme

• Overall, the Hair to Train programme was shown to be sustainable and producing positive outcomes for students with clear pathways into higher education or employment.

Findings related to Youth Guarantee programmes

• Students on such programmes were focused and moving forward with study and/or career.
• News of Youth Guarantee programmes was spreading back to schools, communities and families.
• Youth Guarantee programmes were likely to be sustainable into the future.
• Uptake of Youth Guarantee offerings was likely to continue to grow.

Findings relevant to other Youth Guarantee programmes

• Several key principles for success and sustainability were identified through the project.
• The first was the importance of developing a strong personal connection between individual tutors and students.
• A learning environment that fostered a sense of family was also considered important.
• Setting high expectations and ensuring these expectations were clear to students was important.
• Cultural awareness and inclusivity was another key principle identified.
• Ensuring learning had real-world relevance was another important principle.
• Respecting the growing maturity of students was also identified.
• Overall, Youth Guarantee programmes gave students an opportunity to develop soft skills such as confidence, professionalism and self-management, as well as enhance language, literacy and numeracy proficiency, alongside programme content knowledge.
• It was important to frequently celebrate and acknowledge the incremental achievements of students.

Key Recommendations

Create a strong personal connection between individual tutors and students | Set up regular and ongoing conversations about progress. Assist students to overcome any barriers to achievement. Know the learner, their background, aspirations, learning preferences and their passions. See pastoral care as important.

Create a learning environment that fosters a sense of family | Encourage students to support one another, work collaboratively and develop a team spirit.

Set high expectations and ensure these are made clear to students | Make a point of enforcing standards with fair, transparent and consistent discipline, but while remaining flexible.

Maintain cultural awareness and inclusivity | Give students the opportunity to develop a sense of identity, belonging and pride, at the same time as they learn vocational skills.

Create real-world relevance | Provide direction and authentic preparation for the workplace. Enable language, literacy and numeracy learning, alongside acquiring subject knowledge. Contextualise subject matter in practical tasks the student can relate to.

Respect the student's growing maturity | Treat students as adults. Consult them about key aspects of the programme (eg, timetables, learning contracts and milestone rewards). Recognise prior knowledge and cultural identity. Provide opportunities for students to be independent and autonomous in managing study.

Celebrate success | Give students the chance to thrive on positive reinforcement through giving out certificates and organising open days, exhibitions and graduation events. Make it possible for students to represent their institute and be acknowledged as part of the wider organisation’s success.