In Essex County Council (ECC), the Education Directorate is taking a proactive stance to ensure that every young person has the best chance to succeed. At the heart of this mission is ECC’s Education Performance & Business Intelligence (PBI) team, whose innovative work has led to the development of the Risk of NEET Indicator (RONI) tool - a data-driven solution designed to identify children at risk of becoming Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET).
The wider PBI team, made up of five function themed teams - Children's Social Care, Adult's Social Care, Education, Place and CEC (Climate, Environment & Customer) - aim to support ECC in understanding current performance and how this compares with trends and other authorities. By converting a vast range of data into insight and intelligence, the team collaborates with services, partners and central government departments to support real-time, practical decision-making.
Why RONI Matters
Becoming NEET can have long-term consequences for a young person’s life chances, affecting their employment prospects, mental health, and social mobility. Early identification and intervention are key to preventing this outcome. The RONI tool empowers education professionals across Essex to do just that—spot the signs early and act swiftly.
Building the Tool: A Data-Driven Approach
The Education PBI team collaborated closely with schools, local authorities, and service partners to design a tool that is both robust and responsive. By integrating a wide range of data sources—including attendance records, special educational needs, exclusions, care status, and youth justice involvement—the RONI tool generates a risk score for each student against 15 categories. This score helps practitioners prioritise support for those most in need.
The below graphs compare the Numbers on Role (NOR), number of Young Persons (YP) who are NEET and the NEET percentages to the RONI score. This enables us to compare retrospectively to those cohorts who are already NEET, would they have been “picked” up by the tool. This evidences a high success rate of children receiving a high score and then going on to be NEET.
What sets Essex’s RONI tool apart is its dynamic and locally tailored design. It doesn’t rely solely on national benchmarks but incorporates local intelligence and historical trends, making it more accurate and relevant for Essex’s diverse communities. It draws out child level data for targeted intervention but also allows analysis to focus on specific areas/wards, schools or Academy Trusts where evidence shows that there is an increased risk of NEET.
There are two versions of the dashboard, one which has child level data so that the Youth Service can respond to individual concerns and an anonymised version.
Impact on the Ground
Since its rollout, the RONI tool has transformed how the Education Directorate approaches early intervention. The Youth Service and support teams now have access to a real-time dashboard that highlights at-risk students, enabling timely and targeted support. This has led to:
- Improved collaboration between education, social care, and youth services.
- Earlier engagement with families and young people.
- Better outcomes, with more students staying in education or transitioning successfully into training or employment.
Looking Ahead
ECC’s Education PBI team continues to refine the RONI tool, incorporating feedback from users and exploring new data sources to enhance its predictive power. Their work is a testament to the power of cross-sector collaboration, innovation, and a relentless focus on outcomes.
Essex is leading the way—and thanks to the RONI tool, more young people are being given the support they need to thrive.