Young jobless 'Neets' reach record level

The number of young people not in education, training or work has risen to a record level in England.

Official figures for the third quarter of this year say there were 1,163,000 people aged from 16 to 24 not in education, employment or training (Neet).

That is almost one in five of that age-group and an extra 137,000 compared with the same point last year.

The government says the number has been "too high for too long".

Last week, figures were published for UK unemployment, showing it had risen to a record level of 2.62 million in the three months to September.

Thursday's figures - for England - show about one in seven 16- to 18-year-olds - a total of 267,000 - are Neet.

That is 2,000 more than at this time last year.

A government spokeswoman said: "The number of young people not in education, employment or training has been too high for too long - we are determined to bring the numbers down.

"We know that many young people move between school, college, university and work during the summer, which explains why Neet figures are higher during this quarter. But we will not be complacent and are taking action now to address this issue."

She added that young people's achievements at 16 were the most important influence on their future job prospects, and that the government aimed to boost this through its "ambitious school reforms".

"We are committed to raising the participation age, so that all 16- and 17-year-olds are in education or training by 2015 and we are reforming vocational education to ensure that there are high-quality opportunities for all young people to participate," she said.

The Association of Colleges says its latest survey shows there has been a 14% drop in young people signing up for Level One courses, which cover basic skills and pre-GCSE levels.

Martin Doel, the AoC's chief executive said: "These figures add weight to the results of our October survey of colleges and a new set of interim enrolment figures collected from colleges, both of which suggest that there has been a fall in the number of students leaving school with low levels of qualifications starting at college this year.

"Sadly, if these young people are not studying at college, they are likely to become Neets."