Addressing a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party conference David Willetts said access to training is a major obstacle for teenagers.
He attributed the problem to Westminster's and the media's focus on A-levels and university as the normal path for young people.
"The routes through from school to work are unnecessarily complicated because we have made them so by messing around with vocational qualifications so much," Willetts explained.
"The one exception is the A-levels to UCAS to university route, which 40 per cent of young people take. For the other 60 per cent it is a complete maze."
Willetts also criticised moving careers advice away from mainstream services and into Connexions.
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