The nature and scale of the challenges faced by care leavers mean it is difficult for them to be tackled by local authorities alone, and there is an increasing need for organisations across all sectors of society to commit to supporting care leavers.

This is even more vital in the context of devolution and combined local authorities, which create opportunities for local areas to learn from effective and integrated approaches to supporting care leavers.

This report presents the findings of Learning and Work Institute’s research into localised approaches to supporting care leavers and looked after children.

It includes a review of evidence demonstrating the need for integrated models of support, highlights critical success factors of existing local approaches, along with case studies of local areas which have successfully developed effective models of support for care leavers.

23 June 2026

VocTech Challenge: Skills for an Economy in Transition

The VocTech Challenge aims to accelerate the adoption and deployment of technology to help every adult in the UK get the skills they need to participate and benefit from our transitioning.

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17 June 2026

Evaluation of Central London Forward’s Youth Guarantee Trailblazer 

Learning and Work Institute has evaluated the first year of delivery of Full Potential, the Youth Guarantee Trailblazer delivered by Central London Forward.

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9 June 2026

Final report: Evaluation of the JobsPlus Pilot

This evaluation of JobsPlus builds on the interim findings published in September 2025 to provide evidence on whether the model can be adapted to the UK context and effectively implemented to improve employment outcomes.  

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29 May 2026

I found my voice through lifelong learning – others deserve the same chance

Ed Balls, Former Cabinet Minister and Shadow Chancellor, sets out why lifelong learning is vital for the country.

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28 May 2026

Responding to the interim report of the Milburn review

L&W chief executive Stephen Evans responds to the interim report from the Milburn review on Thursday 28 May 2026.

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19 May 2026

Labour market dashboard

Every month, Learning and Work Institute produces detailed and timely analysis of the latest labour market statistics from ONS. Explore our interactive charts.

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1 May 2026

Driving Change in Higher Education

Learning and Work Institute is working in partnership with The Carers Federation with funding from The National Lottery Community Fund to improve the support that young adult carers receive in higher education.

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17 March 2026

There’s one million NEETs in the UK. Are we doing enough?

Stephen Evans, Chief Executive at Learning and Work Institute, reflects on the Government’s expansion of the Youth Guarantee and if support is going far enough to help young people into work or training.

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17 March 2026

Beyond the headline: What emerging qualitative insights tell us about supporting young people into work

Iona McArdle, L&W’s JobsPlus Programme Manager, shares some emerging insights from the JobsPlus evaluation on young people’s experiences of being not in education, employment or training (NEET).

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