Press release

Number of young people NEET falls across the board

Young people not in education, employment or training has fallen by almost 150,000 since same period in 2010.

• From: Department for Education, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and Nick Boles
• Published: 26 February 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) in England is at its lowest level for more than 8 years with figures for October to December showing falls across all age ranges, official figures reveal today (26 February 2015).

The quarterly figures show those in the 16 to 24 age group recorded as NEET dropped to its lowest level for the period since 2007, while the 16- to 18-year-old rate fell to the lowest since records began in 2000.

Since 2010, the number of 16-year-olds NEET for the period has almost halved, while the 16 to 24 age range has seen a fall of 146,000.

Skills Minister Nick Boles said:

As part of our long-term economic plan we want to ensure young people are getting the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in modern Britain.

With a return to NEET levels not seen since before the economic crisis, today’s figures provide yet more evidence that our long term economic plan is working.

We are determined to ensure the trend continues so that even more young people are able to fulfil their potential and contribute to our growing economy.

The figures, which cover October to December 2014, show a fall across all recorded age ranges compared to the same period in 2013. They show that the proportion of:

• 16- to 24-year-olds who were NEET had fallen by one percentage point to 13.1%, down 62,000 to the lowest number and rate since 2007
• 19- to 24-year-olds who were NEET had fallen by 1.2 percentage points to 15.9%, a reduction of 51,000
• 16- to 18-year-olds who were NEET had fallen by 0.6 percentage points to 7%, the lowest level since 2000, when consistent data began

Today’s figures also include the economic activity for young people who are NEET, and show that the number of unemployed 19- to 24-year-olds NEET fell by 86,000 compared to the same quarter in 2013.

Notes to editors

1. Read the NEETs statistics: quarterly brief – October to December 2014.
2. The Department for Education is planning to invest £7.2 billion in the 2014 to 2015 financial year to fund education and training places for 16- to 19-year-olds.
3. BIS prioritises young adults with low level skills through its funding arrangements.
4. BIS funding enabled 748,400 19- to 24-year-olds to participate during the 2013 to 2014 academic year and we expect to spend up to £1 billion on training this age group by the end of 2014 to 2015 academic year.

DfE and BIS media enquiries

DfE central newsdesk 020 7783 8300

BIS media enquiries 020 7215 3234/3505

Published 26 February 2015