A Decade in the Making: What next for young people in England?

Foreword by Mary Myatt, Chair of The Centre for Education and Youth

It is important to mark milestones by way of tribute to the work done and by pausing to imagine what might come next.

We have much to be proud of from our time as LKMco. We have spent ten years as a ‘think and action tank’, working to identify the underlying barriers standing in the way of positive educational experiences and fulfilling prospects for all young people, particularly those who are marginalised. It was our research that pushed the issue of teacher recruitment and retention up the agenda and which went on to shape many of the solutions currently being implemented. We know – thanks to a back catalogue of eight years of social impact reports , that as a result of our support, dozens of organisations have changed the way they work, or secured funding to expand their work with young people. Meanwhile, as Amanda Spielman herself notes, a culture of evidence based scrutiny and engagement with research has grown up in the last decade which we have played a big role in developing, as our track record of media coverage and topical, evidence-based blogs shows.

The Centre for Education and Youth will continue to probe the underlying causes of disadvantage. It will continue to ask important questions of those holding the levers of power, both within and beyond the sector, whilst always offering credible alternatives. It will continue to propose better structures that enable professionals working with young people to do their jobs more effectively. It will continue to use timely and rigorous research to get under the skin of issues affecting young people in order to shape the public debate, advise the sector and campaign on topical issues.

Most of all, The Centre for Education and Youth will continue to make the case that the next decade must be better than the last. This publication marks the first step in us plotting that path forward.

We are delighted that so many have contributed to this publication and we hope that many more of you will join us in the decade to come, whether by reading our work, participating in our research, commissioning our support or funding our impact.

Download our #DecadeInMaking report here