Early leaving  from education and training (ELET) in the European Union has been a critical objective for the improvement of equity and quality of education systems in the region, at least since the Lisbon European Council (2000), in March 2000, defined the so-called Lisbon Strategy, with the objective for 2010 of making Europe the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with better and sustainable jobs and greater social cohesion, in which the reduction of ELET  was established as an objective. This has been repeated throughout the subsequent education and training strategies that have been published.

Reducing dropout remains a priority, however, the scientific literature is beginning to point to a gap in understanding how we can facilitate the return of those who have left education or training and subsequently return (Gilles & Misfud, 2016; Guerrero-Puerta, 2022; Psifidou et al., 2021). Awareness of this process can contribute to a broader integration of the school-work trajectories of young people and, at the same time, broaden the possibilities of support and accompaniment for those who decide to return (Nouwen and Clycq, 2019).

In this framework, and due to the scientific literature is very diverse, we propose -as the main objective of the study- to analyze relevant research on the topic in order to present a thematic map of the state of the art on early leaving education and training.

The methodology adopted in this study will be a systematic review of the literature focused on the return to education or training after leaving education or training. To carry out this review, two major academic search engines, Scopus and Web of Science, will be used to identify related studies. Studies published between 2010 and 2023 were considered. This methodology will allow us to analyze and synthesize the most up-to-date findings and information on the return of individuals to education or training after having interrupted their educational trajectory.

In this line of research on the topic of returning to education or training after leaving, we can find different lines of literature development. On the one hand, De la Cruz & Ilinich (2019), Feito (2015), and Nieto, et al. (2018) focus on the students' return trajectory and explore the meanings they attribute to early school leaving, as well as their influence on the return process using a biographical approach. In addition, they examine the post-dropout period, motivation to return, and students' perceptions of the leaving and return process. These studies highlight the importance of considering factors that led to leaving before being consolidated, which can be projected onto the return process. These investigations also question the linearity of the trajectories and emphasize the importance of addressing the tension between individual agency and structure in the dropout and return processes. In addition, some authors, such as De la Cruz & Ilinich (2019), highlight the influence of individual factors on return, thus, they point out that young people's first contact with the labor market and precarious conditions may be triggers for return. Feito (2015) argues that the low demand of the Spanish productive system in terms of credentials and training has historically contributed to dropout and is now being reversed with an increase in educational return. In addition, another of the resulting lines highlights the importance of accompaniment processes in return transitions. Thiele et al. (2017) study the return of students from lower classes and the importance of guidance to make educational options visible. Emery et al. (2020) reaches similar conclusions when investigating the return trajectories of migrant students, emphasizing the relevance of accompaniment and guidance in this process. In conclusion, these studies highlight the complexity of leaving and returning processes in education, considering individual and structural factors, and emphasizing the importance of support and guidance to facilitate the successful return of students.

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