Industry x Education: Tackling Young People Becoming NEET

On Tuesday 22 September 2026, Transcend Tech Leeds and Ahead Partnership are bringing together employers, educators and young people at Leeds Beckett University City Campus to address a specific and growing problem: the rising number of young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training — NEET.

The session runs from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM BST and is hosted by Accenture U. It is built around open discussion rather than passive listening. A keynote opens proceedings with an examination of why young people disengage from education and career pathways. That is followed by a youth voice segment — first-hand accounts from young people themselves — then a panel discussion and a roundtable where attendees contribute ideas that are intended to lead to concrete action across the Leeds city region.

The event is aimed at digital and technology employers, school and college leaders, careers advisers, local authority skills teams, youth charities and social enterprises, and young people who want to share their own experiences. The framing is practical: what can employers actually do, through work experience placements, mentoring, workplace visits, career talks and industry-led projects, to help young people build confidence and see a route into work?

The digital and technology sector is a particular focus because it offers a wide range of careers that do not require traditional academic routes — yet many young people remain unaware of those pathways or cannot see how their own interests connect to them. The event is a direct attempt to close that gap by getting the people who can change things in the same room.

Transcend Tech Leeds organises events that connect the Leeds tech community with broader social and economic questions facing the region. Ahead Partnership is a Leeds-based organisation that brokers relationships between employers and schools across Yorkshire, with a track record of facilitating exactly the kind of employer engagement this event is designed to promote.

Why attend

If you work in Leeds tech and have wondered what meaningful engagement with schools actually looks like in practice, this is a useful few hours. You will hear directly from young people about what barriers they face, and from employers and educators about what has worked.

The roundtable format means you are expected to contribute, not just observe. That makes it worth attending if you have a genuine interest in shaping how your organisation engages with the next generation of digital talent in the region — or if you are a careers professional looking for employer contacts who are willing to act.

Agenda

• 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM Keynote: current challenges facing young people at risk of disengagement
• 4:30 PM – 4:45 PM Youth voice: first-hand experiences from young people
• 4:45 PM – 5:00 PM Break
• 5:00 PM – 5:30 PM Panel discussion
• 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM Roundtable discussion and networking