Analysis: Connexions - Partnerships start to come of age

In the final years of the 20th century, the official number of young people in England not involved in education, employment or training (NEET) remained stubbornly high at around 180,000. This was one of the brute facts that led to the creation of Connexions.

Now, some three years on from the first Connexions partnerships going live and one year on from the last, there is hard-nosed confirmation that this figure is gradually diminishing. The National Audit Office studied the service's impact and found that, in the longer-established phase one and two areas, the proportion of NEET 16- to 18-year-olds fell by eight per cent in the year to November 2003 (YPN, 7-13 April, p2). The service as a whole was set the objective of achieving a 10 per cent reduction by November 2004. And it's on target to achieve this, says Sir John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office.