Young People with Complex Needs as a Particular Challenge for the Education System - In-depth analysis

Oct 15, 2026

Young people with complex needs are presented as a key predictor of poorer educational and broader life outcomes, since their challenges span psychosocial wellbeing, physical and mental health, socioeconomic background, family burdens, learning difficulties, and other intersecting factors. The study explains why systems often fail to respond appropriately, leading to exclusion and harmful consequences for both young people and support services. Using qualitative content analysis of interviews from a Slovenian study, it examines school, family, peer networks, local community, and formal services as supportive or threatening.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Conceptualisation of vulnerability

Intersectional analysis of complex needs

Methods and qualitative content analysis

Findings: supportive vs threatening systems

Implications for educational and support systems

DOI: [https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1895](https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.1895) Young People with Complex Needs as a Particular Challenge for the Education System Špela Razpotnik*1, Matej Sande2, Bojan Dekleva2, Darja Tadič3, Mija Marija Klemenčič Rozman2 and Jana Rapuš Pavel2 • One of the phenomena that predicts poorer educational outcomes for young people, as well as poorer outcomes in other areas, is certainly the phenomenon of complex needs, i.e., challenges that cut across different domains, often combining psychosocial wellbeing, physical and mental health, socioeconomic background, the burden of different challenges on the young persons’ family, a non-dominant ethnic background, learning difficulties and other aspects. A key challenge with complex needs is the inability of systems (educational and others) to respond appropriately to them, resulting in young people being sent from door to door and being excluded, as well as other adverse responses for both parties (young people and services, educational and others). In order to understand the emergence of complex needs or multiple vulnerabilities, we need to analyse them using an intersectional perspective. In this paper, data from a national Slovenian study entitled Support Networks for Young People in Psychosocial Distress are analysed using a subsample of 32 young people from the overall sample of 203 interviewees. The subsample represents young people whose interviews show the greatest clustering of distress in various contexts of life. The interviews with the selected participants are qualitatively analysed using content analysis based on a scheme of key social systems: school/education, family, peer networks, local community and other (formal) support services. All of these systems are analysed in terms of being supportive or threatening according to the perception of the young person. In all of the systems, more threatening than supportive aspects were reported by young people with complex needs. An analysis of both kinds offactors can help us to think about the changes needed in educational and other systems in order to make them more responsive to the needs of particularly vulnerable young people. Keywords: young people, psychosocial distress, complex needs, intersectionality, integrating services 1 *Corresponding Author. Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; [spela.razpotnik@pef.uni-lj.si](spela.razpotnik@pef.uni-lj.si). 2 Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. 3 Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; and Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Mladi s kompleksnimi potrebami kot poseben izziv za vzgojno-izobraževalni sistem Špela Razpotnik, Matej Sande, Bojan Dekleva, Darja Tadič, Mija Marija Klemenčič Rozman in Jana Rapuš Pavel • Eden izmed pojavov, ki napoveduje slabše rezultate mladih na področju izobraževanja pa tudi na drugih področjih, je gotovo pojav kompleksnih potreb, tj. izzivov, ki segajo na različna področja, pogosto pa združujejo psihosocialno počutje, telesno in duševno zdravje, socialno-ekonomsko ozadje, različna družinska bremena, nedominantno etnično ozadje, učne težave in morebitne druge vidike. Ključni izziv pri kompleksnihpotrebah je nezmožnost sistemov (vzgojno-izobraževalnega in drugih), da bi se nanje ustrezno odzvali, zaradi česar se mlade pošilja od vrat dovrat, ter se jih na škodo obeh strani (mladih in tudi služb v podporo mladim) izključuje. Da bi razumeli nastanek kompleksnih potreb oz. večplastnih ranljivosti, jih moramo analizirati z medpresečne perspektive. V prispevku so analizirani podatki slovenske nacionalne raziskavez naslovom Podporne mreže mladih v psihosocialnih stiskah, ki je bilaizvedena na podvzorcu 32 mladih iz skupnega vzorca 203 anketirancev. Podvzorec predstavlja mlade, pri katerih je v intervjujih razvidno največje kopičenje izzivov v različnih življenjskih kontekstih. Intervjuji z izbranimi udelež

FAQs

What are complex needs and why are they a challenge for education systems?

Complex needs involve challenges across multiple domains, often combining psychosocial, health, socioeconomic, family, ethnic background, and learning difficulties. A central challenge is that educational and other systems cannot respond appropriately, which contributes to exclusion and negative outcomes.

How does the paper analyze complex needs in young people?

It uses an intersectional perspective to analyze data from a national Slovenian study. Qualitative content analysis is applied to interviews, examining how key social systems are perceived as supportive or threatening.

Which systems are assessed in the qualitative content analysis?

The analysis focuses on school/education, family, peer networks, local community, and other formal support services. Each is evaluated based on the young person’s perception of whether it is supportive or threatening.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by A glass of water