Lot of public and private institutions and organizations are facing explanations to understand the new social and individual needs in learning and teaching at all stages of education derived of COVID-19. Some of them have published reports on youth (Injuve, 2020), on employment (ILO, 2022), on training systems (Cedefop, 2020; DOUE, 2020), among others. However, there are no many studies to understand the emergence of new social and individual needs in the context of second chance training programs (Portela-Pruaño et al., 2022) to re-engage young people in training, education and employment.

The Second Chance Schools scheme was proposed by the European Commission (2001) in November 1995 to combat exclusion. The projects concerned were intended “to provide new education and training opportunities to young excluded people who lacked the skills and qualifications to enter further training or the job market” (European Commission, 2001, p.8). Expressions of interest began to appear, strongly in some countries than others, and the Second Chance Schools scheme became as a reality in different countries. It is appropriate to recall that it was not a European incursion into education systems, nor the imposition of a particular model. Therefore, the particularities of each school were to depend to a large extend on local and national circumstances but some general rules. 

In Spain, the Spanish Association of Second Chance Schools (E2O) is responsible of a large part of these re-engage programs thanks to the 45 accredited schools as E2O. Training for employment and the return to formal training constitute the offer that second chance schools plan to promote the social inclusion of young people in vulnerable situations (Merino et al., 2022). In the context of actual societal crisis, it is necessary to know what characterizes the curriculum, the didactics, and the demand profile of second chance schools.

Our objective will be to analyze organizational matters which focuses on the design of a curriculum (are E2O able to adapt the curriculum to respond adequately to the characteristics of their students?), on the conceptions of didactics and teaching practices in E2O scenarios (what are the interventions principle of second chance schools to answer individual needs in learning?) and on the profile of second chance schools' students (what characterize the profile of E2O students?).

We have applied a mixed method of research, where qualitative and quantitative techniques have been used to collect information on various E2O’s agents. Thus, we apply the evaluative and descriptive methodology to learn, from the perspective of the second chance schools’ professionals, the curricular design and the didactics that are applied in the re-engage programs. In addition, a survey study was carried out on young people enrolled in the second chance schools to know their personal, social, and educational characteristics. Therefore, we distinguish two profiles of participants: i) E2O professionals with leadership, management, or coordination responsibilities and, ii) young people enrolled in E2O. Various data collection protocols were used to carry out the research. The instruments used for this purpose were the following: semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The interview script included diverse aspects but, due to the interest of this work, we show the issues related to curricular design and educational practice. The survey was designed ad hoc with questions about the school experience in secondary school, the degree of satisfaction with the Second Chance School (E2O), short-term future expectations and acquired skills, as well as a battery of questions about personal characteristics. Due to the interest of this work, we show the issues related to the personal, social and educational profile of young people. Interviews were applied in 2021 and 24 professionals with management positions participated (representing 40 of the 45 accredited units). Survey study was applied in 2022 and 28 schools agreed to participate in the study collecting data of 1,119 students.

The main conclusions are pointed out: - There is a diversity of profiles in the students enrolled in the E2O. There are different ages, origins, family situations, previous trajectories, and expectations. In this diversity there are young people with normalized families and even with higher education, and young people with very fragile situations and who need support beyond training and work. - There is also diversity in the type of training, itineraries, duration, training for employment, test preparation, professional training at different levels. However, they all train in professional competences that combine with other kind of teaching to offer an integral education process: basic and transversal competences. - The educational practice developed by the E2O is an example of good practices with young people who have had a very difficult time and who have been left completely hopeless, rejected and expelled by the school system. - The E2O offer an educational response intentionally differentiated from that of secondary education centers. In general, they are flexible educational organizations that adapt the curriculum following an individualized training itinerary.

Cedefop (2020). Digital gap during COVID-19 for VET learners at risk in Europe. Synthesis report on seven countries based on preliminary information provided by Cedefop’s Network of Ambassadors tackling early leaving from VET. DOUE (2020). Council conclusions on countering the COVID-19 crisis in education and training (2020/C 212 I/03). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52020XG0626(01) European Commission (2001). Second chance schools. The results of a European pilot project. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. Injuve (2020). Juventud en riesgo: análisis de las consecuencias socioeconómicas de la COVID-19 sobre la población joven en España. Informe 1. Madrid: Injuve. ILO (2022). Global employment trends for youth 2022. Investing in transforming futures for young people. Geneva: ILO. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54394/QSMU1809 Merino, R.; Olmeda, E.; García-Gracia, M. & Palomares-Montero, D. (2022). Young people and second chance: Changes in training and employment trajectories. Profesorado, Revista de currículum y formación del profesorado, 26(3), 221-241. https://doi.org/10.30827/profesorado.v26i3.23455 Portela-Pruaño, A.; Rodríguez-Entrena, M.J.; Torres-Soto, A. & Nieto-Cano, J.M. (2022). Why vulnerable early school leavers retuns to and re-engage with education: push and pull reasons underlying their decision. Intercultural Education, 33(2), 156-172. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2021.2018209