CBE Explores Surrey's NEET Crisis

In Surrey, hundreds of young people are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Yet behind the statistics are young people whose circumstances, aspirations and barriers can easily remain unseen.

In 2024, the Centre for Britain and Europe (CBE) was commissioned by Peter Cluff, High Sheriff of Surrey for 2025–26, to investigate this challenge. The result was Unseen Surrey - An exploratory Overview of the NEET Crisis — a foundational piece of research examining who is being left behind, why existing pathways do not always work, and where Surrey could do more. The research marked the beginning of a much bigger conversation.

On 28 March 2025, we were honoured to attend the inauguration of Peter Cluff as High Sheriff of Surrey. His year in office placed the experiences of young people outside education, employment and training firmly at the centre of Surrey’s civic agenda. Rather than allowing the research to sit on a shelf, the CBE and the High Sheriff brought people together to ask a more important question: What can Surrey actually do next?

• From Insight to Action / July 2025: On 16 July 2025, the Next Step for NEETs Conference brought together community organisations, alternative pathway providers, Surrey Police, Surrey County Council, civil society and other local stakeholders. Opened by Tim Oliver, then Leader of Surrey County Council, the conference created a space for people working across very different parts of the system to share experiences and identify practical opportunities for change. The conversation became Next Steps for NEETs: From Insight to Action — demonstrating what can happen when local knowledge, research and collective action are brought together. Alongside this work, the CBE has championed the idea of REET — reintegration into education, employment or training. The shift from simply counting young people who are “NEET” towards asking how they can be supported back into meaningful pathways is an important part of the conversation we want to advance. Read the report here: Next Steps for NEETs: From Insight to Action 
   
• From action to meaningful change / March 2026: The work continued on 10 March 2026 with Next Steps for Young People: From Action to Meaningful Change, hosted at the University of Surrey. The event brought stakeholders together to reflect on what had changed over the previous year — and what still needed to change. There was much to celebrate. This included the appointment of Sarah Davies as NEET Partnership Coordinator, the continued development of the Community of Practice, and promising initiatives from organisations including The Clink Charity and Move Different. But the discussion also highlighted a continuing challenge: support for young people can be fragmented. Different organisations often provide valuable interventions without young people necessarily being able to see or navigate the pathway between them. The next challenge, therefore, is not simply to create more provision. It is to connect what already exists, strengthen collaboration, and make pathways into education, employment and training easier for young people to find and access.
   
• Looking beyond the formal system / April 2026: In April 2026, CBE’s Professor Amelia Hadfield and Dr Maya Chew, alongside UCA partners Professor Elisabetta Lazzaro and Dr Xinya Yu, secured ESRC Impact Acceleration Account funding for new research exploring the role of grassroots and creative organisations as pathways for young people who are left behind by formal systems. Working with Lucy Quinnell of the Quinnell School of Blacksmithing and Elaine McGinty of Phoenix Cultural Centre, this work asks a different but connected question: What if some of the pathways young people need already exist in their communities — but are not yet recognised as pathways into their future? The research is exploring how grassroots, creative and community organisations can provide alternative spaces for young people to build confidence, skills, relationships and a sense of belonging — and how these experiences might connect more effectively with education, employment and other formal opportunities.
   
• CyberAccess / June 2026: This project is a new initiative led by Dr Waleed Shahid at Royal Holloway, University of London, in partnership with the Surrey Cyber Security Cluster, Wren Junction, the Centre for Britain and Europe and local community and industry organisations. The project will support young people aged 18–24 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) to explore opportunities in Surrey’s growing cybersecurity sector through a series of interactive workshops. Participants will get hands-on experience of cybersecurity, explore real-world challenges and hear directly from industry professionals about their own career journeys. Starting in Park Barn, Guildford, CyberAccess will also connect participants with routes into further education, training, apprenticeships and employment. With four workshops planned, the project aims to reach up to 100 young people and develop a model that could eventually be replicated in other communities across the UK. 
   
• Parliamentary Evidence / July 2026: In July 2026, Professor Amelia Hadfield and Megan Ward presented a brief on CBE's work on NEETs during the Parliamentary Evidence week, an annual event that brings together researchers, parliamentarians and the public to strengthen the use of evidence in policymaking. Read the brief here: Understanding NEETs - Evidence to Address the Crisis.

The CBE is proud to have played a role in bringing people together, generating evidence and helping turn that evidence into a continuing conversation about how Surrey supports its young people. But this is not work that belongs to one organisation. It belongs to Surrey. 

We look forward to working with community organisations, education and training providers, employers, local government, researchers and — most importantly — young people themselves to build pathways that recognise their strengths and help them shape a better economic and social future.

Interested in the work?
To find out more about our research and work on NEETs and young people in Surrey, please contact Professor Amelia Hadfield at a.hadfield@surrey.ac.uk or Dr Maya Chew at m.r.chew@surrey.ac.uk.