In coastal towns like Saltburn, opportunity can feel remote and out of reach for many young people.

At Huntcliff School, we serve an 11-16 community shaped by long-standing socioeconomic challenges. Local jobs can be hard to come by.

Across the North East, circumstances are similarly challenging. The region has the highest proportion of young people aged 16-24 not in education, employment or training (Neet) in England (15 per cent compared with the national average of 12.8 per cent). GCSE outcomes remain among the lowest nationally. Labour productivity lags significantly behind other regions.

This is the backdrop to our learners’ progression, and these realities might make a zero-Neet outcome at the point of leaving school seem unlikely, if not impossible.

Yet our Neet numbers have been zero or close to zero in the past four years. So, how have we achieved this?

Stopping students becoming Neet

Our learner cohort reflects a level of complexity that will be familiar to many schools like ours.

More than a third of our learners have special educational needs or disabilities, but only a small proportion have an education, health and care plan, meaning their needs must be met through school-based provision. One in three learners is eligible for free school meals and pupil premium funding, which is above the national average. Social, emotional and mental health needs are also rising.

For many young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds or with SEND, post-16 education can feel unfamiliar and intimidating. By this point, any support can feel remedial.

Identifying risk early

Early identification of those at risk of becoming Neet is therefore essential. This enables us to intervene with targeted careers support well before students are in Year 11 and disengagement has become entrenched.

We’ve recently begun using the Careers and Enterprise Company’s OnTrack+ programme to help us track common risk indicators, such as attendance, behaviour, wellbeing and emerging SEND needs, from key stage 3.

Early, repeated and meaningful exposure to career-related learning builds familiarity and this, in turn, reduces anxiety and builds confidence and engagement. That’s why we have adopted a sustained, whole-school approach to careers education.

By Year 8, our learners are already having structured low-stakes conversations about future pathways. This happens daily, not just during designated events.

By Year 10, learners attend taster days, undertake longer work experience placements and complete mock interviews, alongside one-to-one careers guidance to start framing career and pathway choices.

We work closely with external partners like Tees Valley Careers Hub and Progress Careers to give tailored support and engage local employers, including providing practical planning around transport, routines and open events.

For learners unable to access external work experience due to anxiety or other barriers, we provide meaningful in-school alternatives that bring employers and colleges into school, to make sure that no learner is excluded from opportunity.

For example, mining company Anglo American delivered an engineering session in school where learners took part in a range of practical activities. These included designing and constructing paper bridges capable of supporting a specified weight, as well as using virtual-reality headsets to experience what working in an underground mining environment is like.

A whole-school approach

Year 11 tutors, who are also heads of department, support applications, interviews and decision-making during form time. They also routinely discuss prospectuses and labour market information.

Consistency matters, particularly for learners with SEND and social, emotional and mental health needs, who benefit from repeated conversations, rather than one-off guidance.

However, careers education is not confined to one individual or department. The senior leadership team meets weekly to review provision, monitor progress against the Gatsby Benchmarks, reflect on learner voice and identify next steps.

We recently completed the Careers and Enterprise Company’s Internal Leadership Review to examine current performance, identify what “good” looks like and consider how best to achieve it.

The next step is to start peer-to-peer reviews with careers leaders, organised by our local careers hub. We come together in the local region and share best practice and progress against Gatsby Benchmarks to identify what is working well and any areas for improvement.

Strong partnerships with post-16 providers

Our relationships with local colleges and apprenticeship providers are central to our success.

Local colleges visit regularly and use assemblies, workshops and informal lunchtime drop-ins to allow learners to ask questions without pressure.

For learners with SEND or pastoral needs, detailed transition information is shared to ensure that post-16 staff understand which support has been effective. As a result, learners arrive at their post-16 destination known to staff, reducing anxiety and increasing the likelihood of sustained engagement.

Low Neet as an outcome, not a target

Our low Neet outcomes are the result of years of early intervention and strong relationships, and a belief that careers education must be inclusive, proactive and embedded across the school.

In a region where deprivation and SEND needs are rising, our experience shows that high Neet numbers are not inevitable. Barriers exist, but they can be anticipated and intercepted by interventions tailored to individual learner needs.

Our involvement does not end at the school gate. We continue to track destinations and follow up where there are signs of disengagement, working with families and providers to secure sustained placements.

Our learners leave us knowing what their next step is, how to get there and who to turn to if things don’t go to plan. For us, that is what success looks like.

Leanne Taylor is pastoral manager and Justin Frazer is assistant headteacher and careers leader at Huntcliff School in Saltburn, North Yorkshire

You can now get the UK’s most-trusted source of education news in a mobile app. Get Tes magazine on iOS and on Android