Last Soundbite of 2025: Mayors, Milburn and Major Welfare Reform | FE Soundbite 828
Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 828: 20th December 2025. Last Soundbite of 2025: Mayors, Milburn and Major Welfare Reform This is the weekly e-newsletter and…
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
Alan Milburn’s Investigation Into NEETs is launched
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November 2025 ONS: NEETs Drop to 946k as Gender Dynamics Reverse
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