Number of 16-18-year-olds not working or training rises

The figures also show a 0.8 percentage point increase in the number of 17-year-olds not in education or work, compared to the same period in 2011, with the overall number of 16-18-year-olds not in education or work up by 0.5 percentage points.
 
UCU said the current levels of youth inactivity were not sustainable and called on ministers to take urgent steps to help young people back into education and training.
 
Commenting on the figures, UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'These figures come against the backdrop of higher fees for college and university students and highlight the folly of erecting punitive financial barriers to study.
 
'We simply cannot afford to maintain the current levels of youth inactivity and urgent efforts are required by ministers to give young people genuine opportunities to get on in life.'
 
Notes
Department for Education figures (.pdf)