The School Engagement Risk Assessment Toolkit (SERAT) grows out of robust data collected during our 5 year EU funded project, Reducing Early School Leaving in Europe (RESL.eu), an international research project examining the processes that lead young people to leave school without achieving the skills and qualifications necessary for successful transition into the labour market.

The RESL.eu project was funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme between 2013 and 2018. This multi-method project, coordinated by the University of Antwerp (Belgium), was carried out in nine countries across the EU: Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

The project used mixed, longitudinal methods to track young people’s transitions over time.

In the UK, we conducted a survey in 17 secondary schools and further education colleges in London and the North-East of England – with over 3,000 young people taking part. We also carried out interviews and focus groups with a diverse range of participants - over 180 - including teachers and school support staff, youth workers, parents and other key stakeholders. In addition, over 120 young people took part in the research, from diverse backgrounds and at various stages of their transition from education to employment.

One of the key recommendations that emerged from the RESL.eu project was to implement a ‘school engagement risk assessment toolkit' that could be used at school- and class-level to identify individual students who report low engagement, and to identify where school resources might best be focused.

The research leading to the development of the School Engagement Risk Assessment Toolkit (SERAT) has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The project was supported by the University of Sheffield Impact Accelerator Fund.