The Youth Training Scheme (YTS) was the name in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

of an on-the-job

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

course for school leavers aged 16 and 17 and was managed by the

Manpower Services Commission The Manpower Services Commission (MSC) was a non-departmental public body of the Department of Employment Group in the United Kingdom created by Edward Heath's Conservative Government in 1973. The MSC had a remit to co-ordinate employment and tr ...

. The scheme was first outlined in the 1980

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

''A New Training Initiative: A Programme for Action'', and it was brought into operation in 1983 to replace the

Youth Opportunities Programme The Youth Opportunities Programme was a UK government scheme for helping 16- to 18-year-olds into employment. It was introduced in 1978 under the Labour government of James Callaghan, was expanded in 1980 by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative ...

by the government of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

. Initially lasting one year or six months, the scheme was amended in 1986 to be so that it could be extended to two years. The 1981 England riots encouraged that, by bringing into sharp focus the results of large numbers of unskilled unemployed finding their own solutions. The scheme promised training to its applicants and made use of a variety of different training locales such as businesses, colleges of

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

or training workshops run by voluntary organisations. Since the training place was guaranteed by the government and trainees were to be paid if they were on the course, eligibility for

unemployment benefit Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...

was withdrawn. Accredited organisations were required to provide at least 13 weeks per year of training away from the job and include life skills and social skills. A standardised form of certification was issued at the end of the training period. In 1989, it was renamed Youth Training and was placed under the management of local training and enterprise councils. The trainees on the schemes could be classified as either trainee status or employed status. The difference was distinguished by whether the trainee was recruited by an employer and provided with training for the company needs or if the trainee was being trained by a training organisation using employers as training placements. Often, employed status trainees would have their training allowance improved by the employer.

Criticism

The YTS attracted political and social criticism from an early point. Critics claimed that the scheme enabled employers to exploit school leavers for cheap labour, and it provided little substance in the way of genuine education. The broad left alliance of musicians, artists, comedians and writers, Red Wedge, criticised YTS for its discriminatory nature toward black people and women.“A State of Independence”, Fact Not Fiction Series, no.1. The government's line was that the scheme was an effective counter to the drop in

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

s and marked rise in youth unemployment that was seen in the early 1980s.

References

Youth Policies in the UK: A Chronological Map, Keele University
1980s in the United Kingdom 1983 establishments in the United Kingdom 1989 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Training Youth in the United Kingdom {{UK-gov-stub