Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparable assessment she has made of the number of 16 to 18 year olds who are not in education, employment or training in (a) the UK and (b) other countries in the EU.

The exact information requested is not available for 16 to 18 year olds in EU countries.

The European Commission monitors the progress of member states in reducing the share of early leavers from education and training (adults aged 18-24 who left school without having achieved the minimum upper secondary qualification and who are not currently enrolled in any education and training) as part of their Europe 2020 education and training benchmarking strategy. The UK early leaving rate (12.4% in 2013) remains very slightly above the EU average (12% in 2013) but has been on a downward trend since 2011, falling from 15% in 2010 to 12.4% in 2013. However, the government’s official statistics (covering England only) are more up to date than these figures and show that the proportion of 16 to 18 year olds NEET at the end of 2013 was down to 7.6%, the lowest rate since comparable records began in 1994.

The Commission’s annual Education and Training Monitor (2014) is available here:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/publications/monitor14_en.pdf

The OECD publishes figures for 15 to 19 year olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), including 21 EU countries:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888933118903