Early school leaving (ESL) is broadly defined as the phenomenon of young people leaving formal education before completing upper-secondary schooling.
Between 2015 and 2016, the Agency conducted a project on Early School Leaving, which resulted in two reports. The first report was a review of the ESL research evidence focusing on Europe.
The second part of the project involved comparing EU policy with the established literature. A second report explored the extent to which EU policies reflect the evidence found in the literature.
This final summary report outlines the key evidence and ideas from the two ESL project reports. It represents the model for thinking about ESL that has evolved from the first two reports, along with the main recommendations for policy-makers.