Is Andy Burnham Ready to Keep Britain Working?FE Soundbite 856
Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 856: 18th July 2026. Is Andy Burnham Ready to Keep Britain Working? This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal by…
neets
What are NEETs?
NEETs means – Not in Education, Employment or Training and is a term for the number of 16-24 year olds not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET).
What is the number of NEETs in the UK?
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the number of NEETs in the November 2025 figures was estimated to be:
ONS November 2025: There are 946,000 young people aged 16-24 were not in education, employment, or training (NEET) in July to September 2025, down from 948,000 in April to June 2025.
This represents 12.7% of all young people (aged 16-24 years old), down 0.1 percentage points on the previous quarter and 0.5 percentage points year-on-year from 13.2%.
Commentators regularly state that there are nearly 1 Million NEETs, but the ONS figures show this is just below this, between July – September 2025, according to the ONS, the number of NEETs actually reduced slightly (by 2,000). A drop from 948,000 to 946,000 NEETs. (from the November 2025 ONS NEETs data compared to the August 2025 ONS NEETs official figures).
However, this number, according to Barry Fletcher, CEO at the Youth Futures Foundation, is actually “One in eight are still out of work or learning. Over a third of unemployed young people have been looking for work for over six months.”
Ben Harrison, Director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said (when commenting on the December 2025 ONS Labour Market Information): “here are now 546,000 young people aged 18-24 who are unemployed – the highest since 2015 and up by 85,000 on quarter”.
NEETs and the Alan Milburn Review
Alan Milburn Review was announced in 2025 to gain a better understanding of what is causing the NEET crisis, and the number of NEETs remains at a persistent level.
The Milburn Review is a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of record unemployment and inactivity among 16 to 24 year olds with a call for young people and a range of experts to come forward with their views.
The Call for Evidence for the Milburn Review is open until 30 January 2026 and gives young people and their stakeholders the opportunity to shape Mr Milburn’s report
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Blackburn College Hosts UK’s First NEET Conference
Education and civic leaders from across the country gathered at Blackburn College for the UK’s first NEET conference. National and regional leaders across education, local…
PIP, NEETs and the £41 Billion Welfare Bill: Why The Timms Review Matters For Skills and Employability | FE Soundbite 855
Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 855: 11th July 2026. PIP, NEETs and the £41 Billion Welfare Bill: Why the Timms Review Matters for Skills and…
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When Prime Minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham walks into Number 10- be that Downing Street or the ‘Number 10 of the north’ in Manchester- what should his…
Why Phantom NEETs, Local Data and RONIs Are Crucial for a Burnham Skills Future | FE Soundbite 854
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A NEET Mess: What Wales Tells Us About Milburn and System Alignment
Yusuf Ibrahim, Vice Principal at CAVC, takes Alan Milburn’s interim review as a starting point and asks what the Welsh data really tells us about…
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Why the Netherlands Builds Bridges Instead of Cliffs for Young People at Risk of Becoming NEET
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Breaking Barriers | Baz Ramaiah: More Good Jobs, Better Employers and Tailored Support. That’s How We Fix the NEET Crisis
We catch up with Baz Ramaiah, Director of Policy and Research at Youth Employment UK, at the recent Breaking Barriers collective, a collective intelligence event…