We Can’t Address The NEETs Crisis Without A Collective Approach
On Tuesday 2nd June, leaders from across government, further education, skills, employability, and employer groups will come together for our Breaking Barriers Collective, where we’ll…
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
The Numbers and Drivers Behind Milburn’s Young People and Work Interim Report
The highly anticipated Young People and Work Interim Report (the Milburn Interim review) has been released. This is a beast of a document (it is…
Milburn Interim Review Deep Dive: What it means for FE
Alan Milburn’s interim findings into young people not in education, employment or training publish at 11am on 28 May 2026. The 217 page diagnostic is…
Young People Are Not Lazy. I’ve Heard Their Voices, and the System Is Letting Them Down.
Today, Alan Milburn published his long-awaited interim review into why nearly one million young people in England are not in education, employment or training. His…
Milburn interim review warns of ‘generational fault line’ as NEET numbers could hit 1.25 million without reform
Alan Milburn warns that Britain faces a “generational fault line” unless it confronts the whole-system failure that has seen nearly one million young people locked…
Apprenticeships: A Fixed System in a Dynamic Economy
Apprenticeships were designed for a stable world. Today’s employers, however, operate in a climate defined by rapid change and uncertainty. Economic volatility, technological disruption, and…
More NEETs Than Vacancies: Can We Fix It in Four Years? | FE Soundbite 848
Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 848: 23rd May 2026. More NEETs Than Vacancies: Can We Fix It in Four Years? This is the weekly e-newsletter…
ONS Labour Market Data June 2026: Youth Unemployment Hits 14.7%. What Happens To The 1 in 7 Young People Looking For Work?
The latest Office for National Data was released today. The ONS estimates that payrolled employees in the UK fell by 104,000 (0.3%) between March 2025…
One In Seven Young People Are Being Left Behind – We Need To Rethink How We Prepare Them For Work
When one in seven young people in the UK are not in education, employment or training (NEET) by the age of 23, this is not just a concerning statistic –…
A constrained labour market strengthens the case for structured pathways for NEETs
The government has long stated its intention to reduce the number of young people who are not currently in education, employment or training (NEET). But…