Individual pathways for NEETs in cross-professional settings – didactics (IO6)


This section outlines a generic model for designing individual pathways for NEETs in a cross-professional context, supported by close contact persons (´scouts´) .


The generic model is an overview of how professionals can work, preferably together, with planning, evaluating and adjusting individual pathways for NEETs in a cross-professional context. The NEETs follow individual pathways towards vocational maturity to achieve self-sufficiency and a life they desire.

The term “NEET” refers to young people who are neither in education, nor employment or training. They typically struggle with a complexity of problems such as personal and/or social difficulties, psychological diagnoses, abuse, drugs, crime or lack of basic educational skills. Their difficulties typically occur in combination with each other.

Individual pathways are the procedural development process created in close collaboration between NEETs and their current contact person(s). That is, the development the young person must go through to approach vocational maturity. This process is continually evaluated and adjusted.

Collaboration takes also place between the different professionals and their organizations in the context around the NEET.

A ´scout´ is a close and consistent contact person for the NEET, during the phases of their pathways as well as during transitions. The scout profile combines two roles; that of organizational coordinator and that of personal counsellor. The scout can perform both of these roles or the role of scout can be divided among several coordinated professionals, depending on local implementation and the individual needs of the NEET.

The team behind

The generic model was co-developed by the Danish partner team of Youth in transition; in particular the Youth Counseling Center, UU Kolding, the national body for education guidance and youth guidance, EUK/KL, and consultants from Moeve aps, with contributions from the project partner organizations in Iceland and Slovenia. The University of Hamburg delivered quality assurance and analyzed the data collection on youth progression.


NEETs in progression

During the project period, qualified data on 198 NEETs were collected every 3rd month.
The individual pathways of young people can be described along the lines of the taxonomy for youth progression:

As the results emerged, it was interesting to note that the initial situations of the young people were assessed differently by the different counsellors. During the initial encounter, approximately the same number of youths had been identified as “contact ready”, “counselling ready” or as “choice ready”.
This confirmed the assumption that NEETs enter their counselling process at different levels of the taxonomy.

The data for the 3-month-periods confirm that the taxonomy levels are not necessarily achieved in a linear manner, such as ´stair steps´. On the contrary, the development varies depending on the individual case. Some NEETs remain at one level for a longer period, while others move back and forth regarding the taxonomy.

In an overall statistical analysis, 47 % of the young people were able to achieve an “educational ready” or “vocational maturity” status. This corresponds to 64 youths with “educational readiness” and 29 youths with “vocational maturity” status.
The share of “drop-outs”, who were still assessed by their counsellors as “not contact ready” after the counselling period, was 6 %.

All in all it was found, that the categories of the taxonomy for youth progression are suitable for describing the current situation of the young people in general.
However, it is important to state that it is up to the young people themselves to decide on the goals, the direction and the activities of their own pathways and also the right moment for them to end their counselling process.

In addition, the data indicate that a large proportion of the young people accept the support services and thus, they share the goals intended by the project Youth in transition.


Country versions

The European generic model has inspired the elaboration of national didactic models in Denmark, Slovenia and Iceland.


Status: Terminated

Grant: 347.496 €

Project period: October 1st 2018 to March 31st 2021

Contact: euk@kl.dk

Funding: Erasmus+