Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the proportion of young people in England not in education employment or training (Neet) grew by 0.9 of a percentage point in the past year.
The rise from 12.3% to 13.2% in the year up to the third quarter of 2024 (July to September) continues the upward trend in the proportion of 16- to 24-year-olds who are Neet over the past two years.
The ONS data shows there were 946,000 young people who were Neet by the end of September 2024, an increase of 95,000 from a year earlier and the highest quarterly total since 2015.
The ONS says the increase has been most significant in young men, which was up 57,000 to total 550,000 in the third quarter of 2024 accounting for 15.1% of all males aged 16-24 – the highest level since 2012. In comparison, 397,000 young women were Neet, accounting for 11.2% of the total, a decline from 411,000 and 11.8% in 2023.
More than three quarters of those who are Neet are aged 18-24.
Thomas Keaney, chief executive at The Complete Education Solution (TCES), says the rise in Neet numbers is “shocking but not entirely surprising”.
“These statistics correlate with the perfect post-pandemic storm of a very significant rise in: school exclusions, pupil self-exclusions, home-elective education, flexi-schooling, and online education alongside significant increases in children missing from education,” Keaney says.
In TCES special schools and services, almost all newly placed pupils have a history of being persistently absent (10% absence), while just over half of new referrals are severely absent (50% absence). Recent Department for Education guidance makes a clear correlation between good school attendance and good attainment.
Keaney says the solution lies in having an Ofsted report card that tracks school inclusion, covering increased attendance, reduced exclusions, and meaningful and accessible apprenticeships and enforcement of mandatory careers guidance for disadvantaged children in all forms of education, including home-elective education.
Barry Fletcher, chief executive of the Youth Futures Foundation, says factors behind the rise in Neet numbers are “varied and complex”, highlighting the near doubling in a decade of young people unemployed due to ill health and the lack of support to help the transition from education to the workplace.
“Our research shows that school attendance, exclusion and low attainment at GCSE can contribute to a higher risk of becoming Neet,” explains Fletcher. “Interventions, such as mentoring, that aim to increase engagement in education can help to address this.
“Mentors offer trusted adult relationships which can support wellbeing and rebuild confidence, laying the foundations needed to improve engagement with education. This person-centric approach can have a positive impact on young people’s lives and help them to see a future ahead where they can thrive.”
--
BUILDING FUTURES TARGETS MENTORING SUPPORT AT THOSE MOST IN NEED
Barry Fletcher, chief executive, Youth Futures Foundation
Funded through the Dormant Assets Scheme, Building Futures is a £15mn programme that will develop and test a package of targeted support to build evidence about how mentoring can be used most effectively to empower students at risk of becoming Neet.
The programme will help to further expand and refine our understanding of different interventions and their effectiveness in a variety of contexts.
Football Beyond Borders has been chosen as our first delivery partner for Building Futures because of its track record of developing trusted relationships with young people in schools from areas of socio-economic disadvantage and experience in using therapeutic mentoring interventions.
During the initial phase of the programme, Football Beyond Borders is providing personalised coaching, mentoring and wellbeing support to up to 500 young people aged 12 to 15 over an academic year. Eight schools from areas with high Neet rates across the West Midlands, the North West and London are among the first to participate. The criteria for enrolling students is influenced by research on the risk factors most strongly associated with Neet status and prioritises those with special educational needs, who may have challenging behaviour and are predicted to perform poorly in exams.
The multi-year programme will reach at least 5,000 young people from now until 2029, with findings from the evaluation tracking the impact on young people’s education and employment outcomes in the years afterwards.
--
CYP NOW PARTNERS WITH TCES FOR ‘LOST LEARNING’ CONFERENCE
Initiatives and best practice to increase school attendance and reduce “lost learning” will be the focus of a one-day conference hosted by CYP Now in partnership with therapeutic education provider TCES. The event will provide a range of ideas for innovative and impactful practice to apply in delegates’ own settings and examine the latest evidence on what improves outcomes for this vulnerable group of children.
The conference will bring together system leaders, decision makers and frontline practitioners across public, private and third sector organisations who work with children who struggle to engage in education. It takes place on 12 February 2025 at London’s Hallam Conference Centre.
