How many young people are NEET?

The current figures for the UK and for England, what each one covers, and how they have changed - with the uncertainty shown rather than hidden.

Young people & participation England·Last reviewed 30 August 2026

Two figures are in circulation, and both are correct. They describe different populations.

United Kingdom, ages 16–24

The Office for National Statistics estimates that 1,012,000 young people aged 16–24 in the UK were NEET in January to March 2026 – 13.5% of the age group. Of those, around 400,000 were unemployed and around 613,000 were economically inactive. This uses actual age and covers the whole UK. It is classed as official statistics in development.

England, ages 16–21

DfE estimates the NEET rate for 16–21-year-olds in England at 11.3% ± 1.0 points in calendar year 2025. For 16–18-year-olds the figure is 7.0% ± 1.1 points. This uses academic age and covers England only.

These two figures cannot be compared with each other, and neither can be used to check the other. Different country, different age definition, different age range, different period.

How the England figure has moved

NEET rate in England, ages 16–21 and 16–18

England · Labour Force Survey estimates · calendar years 2015 to 2025

Ages 16–21

Ages 16–18

LFS estimates were reweighted from January 2019, creating a discontinuity in this series. Comparisons across that break should be treated cautiously.

Source: DfE, Participation in education, training and employment age 16 to 21, calendar year 2025 (published 25 June 2026, last updated 12 August 2026), datasets f16f8c4e and 2aa25253. LFS-based estimates are official statistics in development.

Given confidence intervals of around a percentage point, the defensible reading is that the England 16–21 rate is higher than it was in the late 2010s – 11.3% in 2025 against 9.7% in 2015 – rather than that any particular year marks a turning point.

NEET rises steeply with age

In England in 2025, the NEET estimate was 3.3% at age 16 and 20.0% at age 21. Almost all 16-year-olds are still in education: DfE's administrative data records 91.6% of 16-year-olds in education or on an apprenticeship. The NEET problem is concentrated in the years after compulsory participation ends.

One caution on the older ages: the confidence intervals widen considerably. The age 21 estimate carries an interval of ±3.4 points.

Explore the data

Every figure on this page comes from the Apprenticeships Explorer, where you can filter it by age, level, occupation, provider and place.

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Sources

ONS, Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), published 28 May 2026. United Kingdom, ages 16–24, January to March 2026. Official statistics in development.
DfE, Participation in education, training and employment age 16 to 21, calendar year 2025 (published 25 June 2026, last updated 12 August 2026), datasets f16f8c4e and 2aa25253. LFS-based estimates are official statistics in development.

Last reviewed: 30 August 2026. The next full-year apprenticeship update is scheduled for November 2026.

About this guidance

This guide covers apprenticeships in England. Apprenticeship systems and funding differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

tutor2u uses primary government sources, including GOV.UK, Skills England and the Department for Education and Department for Work and Pensions apprenticeship statistics.

The Apprenticeships Explorer is built independently by tutor2u from published official data and is not an official government service.

Last reviewed: 30 August 2026

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