We Are Failing a Generation: Why Acceptance-Based Support Deserves a Seat at the Table.

We are in a crisis. It is not a crisis that headlines often scream about, but it is real and growing. Across the UK, an increasing number of young people are being classified as NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). These are not just numbers. They are young lives that have been lost to a system that continues to push the wrong priorities, misunderstand neurodivergence, and hold on tightly to outdated models of support.

Let us get one thing clear: this is not just about COVID. For those who argue that the pandemic is solely to blame, I encourage you to examine the data.

In the final quarter before the pandemic (Oct–Dec 2019), the NEET rate among young people aged 16–24 stood at 10.8%. That figure was already alarming.

During the height of COVID (Apr–Jun 2020), the rate rose slightly to 11.5%, before dropping to 9.5% in early 2021, largely due to more young people staying in education during lockdowns. But as restrictions lifted and the world returned to “normal,” the situation did not improve. In fact, it got worse.

By the end of 2023, the NEET rate had reached 12.1%, with 851,000 young people out of education, employment, or training.

And by the end of 2024, that figure surged to 13.4%, the highest in over a decade, representing 987,000 disengaged young people (ONS, 2025). As of early 2025, the figure remains at a staggering 12.5%, or 923,000 young people without a pathway forward (ONS, 2025).

What makes these statistics even more distressing is that a disproportionate number of these NEET young people are on EHCPs. A significant percentage of those EHCPs are for autistic or neurodivergent students. That tells us something deeply uncomfortable: the support being offered to these young people is not working. If it were, we would not be in this mess.

Why I set up Accepting Behaviour.

I set up Accepting Behaviour because I could no longer stand by and watch a system fail the very young people it claims to support. I have spent years working directly with autistic and neurodivergent young people, children who had been excluded, dismissed, or overlooked. And I have seen what happens when we stop forcing them to fit a mould and instead build support around them.

Acceptance-based support is not about ‘just letting kids do what they want’. It is not about giving up or lowering expectations. It is about understanding that the foundation of learning is emotional safety. It is about offering autonomy, validating a young person’s experience, and giving them the space to build trust and find their way back into engagement.

I have seen the difference this makes: children who once sat in silence now speaking, exploring, and expressing themselves; teenagers who had given up entirely now re-engaging with learning, making friends, and building confidence. None of this came from punishment, targets, or behavioural interventions. It came from acceptance.

So, when people ask me why I continue to write blogs, deliver training, and advocate for this approach, this is why. Because traditional methods, the ones still used in schools and services across the country, are not delivering. And we are running out of time to keep pretending they are.

It is time to give acceptance-based support a seat at the table. Not as a backup option. Not as an “alternative.” But as a core strategy, one that listens, adapts, and responds to the real needs of young people.

The rise in NEET is not just a social problem. It reflects a broken support system. And the truth is, if we do not start doing things differently, those numbers are only going to climb. The data speaks for itself.