GCRI · Future of Work and Skills
Education to work transition
The move from education into stable, decent work shapes a young person’s earnings and wellbeing for years. Many young people face long searches, informal or temporary jobs, or neither work nor study. This page sets out how school-to-work transitions unfold and stall, how they are measured, and what evidence serves the education and labour authorities, employers and youth organisations involved.
Education to work transition in seven parts.
- 01The questionEducation to work transition: how the risk develops
- 02Across the domainsTransitions into work depend on each domain’s demand for skills
- 03IndicatorsWhat is measured, and how well
- 04SourcesWhere the evidence comes from
- 05DecisionsWho decides, and what the evidence serves
- 06Core questionsWhat researchers ask about first transitions
- 07MechanismsWhy first steps matter
Education to work transition: how the risk develops.
Access and professional inclusion. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.
Skills mismatch slows entry
When education does not match employers’ needs, graduates struggle to find suitable work and employers report shortages at the same time.
Early setbacks scar
Unemployment early in a career lowers later earnings and employment, an effect known as scarring.
Work-based learning helps
Apprenticeships and internships linked to qualifications ease the transition by combining learning with real work.
Barriers differ by group
Young women, rural youth, young people with disabilities and those from poor households face longer transitions.
Skills and exposure console.
The screen a team would use to follow this subject: its measures, states and decisions. Names are examples and values are illustrative.
Skills and exposure console
Education to work transition · Labour market A · Year 3
Occupations by exposure
| Clerical support | 59,359 | 0.8 | Substitute | Data operations |
| Machine operators | 45,609 | 0.6 | Mixed | Robot maintenance |
| Care workers | 20,965 | 0.2 | Complement | Upskill |
| Analysts | 11,541 | 0.3 | Complement | Upskill |
Vacancies by skill
Reskilling pathway
- Assessskills profile
- Matchtarget role
- Train13 weeks
- Placeemployer
- Follow up6 months
Transitions into work depend on each domain’s demand for skills.
Findings are designed for the Evidence Brief series. Education and occupation are coded with ISCED and ISCO for comparability.
- Graduate tracer studies.
- Apprenticeship evaluations.
How education to work transition is modelled, measured and tested.
The model, its assumptions, its data and its uncertainty, in the form a scientist or engineer would check. Structures follow published methods. The values drawn are illustrative, not findings.
System model
The couplings between the systems in education to work transition: signs of influence, a reinforcing and a balancing loop, and cross-links where stress jumps.
What is measured, and how well.
Each indicator carries its unit, its cadence, the kind of source behind it and the evidence label a value would carry. No values are shown: a programme supplies them under its own authority.
| Indicator | Unit | Cadence | Source type | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Youth not in employment, education or training | percent of youth | annual | Labour force surveys | Published statistics |
| Youth unemployment rate | percent | quarterly | Labour force surveys | Published statistics |
| Time to first stable job | months | per survey | School-to-work transition surveys | REPORTED |
| Apprenticeship participation | count | annual | Apprenticeship registers | Published statistics |
| Graduates in jobs matching their field | percent | per survey | Graduate tracer studies | REPORTED |
| Informal employment among youth | percent | annual | Labour force surveys | Published statistics |
Where the evidence comes from.
Named public datasets and institutional records, each with its licence class. Sources by agreement are used only under their terms and never republished.
| Source | What it gives | Licence class |
|---|---|---|
| ILO school-to-work transition surveys | Transitions of young people into work | Public, ILO terms |
| ILOSTAT youth labour market indicators | NEET, unemployment and informality | Open, CC BY 4.0 |
| OECD Education at a Glance | Education and labour market outcomes | Public, OECD terms |
| Graduate tracer studies from universities and ministries | Employment of graduates | Licence per publisher |
| Cedefop work-based learning resources | Apprenticeship systems in Europe | Public, EU terms |
Who decides, and what the evidence serves.
Future of Work and Skills prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.
| Who decides | The question | Evidence this page serves |
|---|---|---|
| Education and labour ministries | How to strengthen transitions and work-based learning | Transition profiles; evaluations |
| Employers and sector bodies | How to offer apprenticeships and entry jobs | Mismatch and programme evidence |
| Youth organisations | Which barriers to address | Group-specific evidence |
Outputs this topic produces
- Youth transition profiles by group
- Evaluations of apprenticeship and youth employment programmes
- Skills mismatch analyses
- Evidence notes for youth employment strategies
What researchers ask about first transitions.
- How long does it take young people to find stable work after leaving education, and how does that vary?
- Which education and training routes, such as apprenticeships, lead to good first jobs?
- What barriers do disadvantaged groups face in entering professions?
- How do early spells of unemployment affect later careers?
Why first steps matter.
Entering the labour market during a recession or after a long gap can reduce earnings for years, a scarring effect. Employers use qualifications and networks to screen applicants, which favours those with well-connected families. Unpaid internships and informal recruitment can exclude people who cannot afford to work for free or lack contacts.
Systems that combine learning with work, such as apprenticeships and work-integrated learning, tend to ease transitions because they build skills employers value and connections to real jobs. But quality varies, and the occupations offered can reproduce gender and social divides.
Evidence on transitions.
- 01
Graduate and school-leaver tracking
Following cohorts into work, using econometrics. Response rates fall over time.
- 02
Evaluation of apprenticeships and programmes
Comparing outcomes across routes. Selection effects are hard to remove.
- 03
Audit studies
Testing for discrimination in hiring with matched applications, using social and behavioural science. Studies capture one stage of hiring.
- 04
Skills mismatch measures
Comparing qualifications and skills with job requirements, using economics and development economics. Different measures give different answers.
How it is studied, and what the methods cannot say.
- 01Social and behavioural scienceJob quality surveys · Social dialogue studies · Learner experience researchApplied here
- 02EconometricsDisplacement effects with linked data · Training programme evaluation · Workforce projectionsApplied here
- 03Economics and development economicsTask-based analysis of technology · Labour market institutions · Just transition economicsApplied here
Where this page’s references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
Questions and answers.
What is a NEET?
What is scarring?
Do apprenticeships help young people find work?
What is labour market scarring?
Do apprenticeships work?
Does the platform run internship or graduate schemes?
What helps disadvantaged young people most?
How is professional inclusion measured?
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