Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many young people aged between 16 and 19 years old were not in education, employment or training in each quarter of 2018.

The number and proportion of 16 to 18 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) in England for each quarter of 2018[1] can be found in the table below:

Source: ‘NEET statistics annual brief: 2018’, from the ‘Labour Force Survey’, available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/neet-statistics-annual-brief-2018. Numbers rounded to the nearest 1000.

It should be noted, that due to seasonal variation in NEET rates, comparisons should not be made between in-year quarters.

The proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) was the lowest on record in the first 3 quarters of 2018.

As shown in the table below, there has been a downward trend in 16 to 18 year old NEETs since 2010:

Local authorities have a statutory duty to identify and support young people who are NEET.

Under Raising the Participation Age, all young people in England are now required to continue in education or training until their 18th birthday. Most continue until the end of the academic year in which they turn 18.

Additionally, the government invested around £7 billion during the last academic year to ensure there was a place in education or training for every 16 to 19 year old.

Regarding further education, the Adult Education Budget funds the first full level 2 and 3 qualifications for 19 to 23 year olds, training up to level 2 for unemployed people and English and maths for all adults who have not achieved level 2.

[1] The figures are based on young people aged 16 to 18 as at 31 August 2018, the start of the academic year, and will therefore include young people who turn 19 throughout the course of the 2018/19 academic year.