At the end of 2011, 154,900 (8.1 per cent) 16- to 18-year-olds were NEET. Rates vary considerably with age – 2.8 per cent of 16-year-olds, 6.7 per cent of 17-year-olds and 14.5 per cent of 18-year-olds. For most young people, being NEET is a temporary outcome as they move between different education and training options – surveys estimate that only one per cent of young people are NEET at ages 16, 17 and 18.
The characteristics of young people who are not participating are diverse, although there are some groups that are at greater risk of becoming NEET. This includes, for example, those with few or no qualifications and those with a health problem, disability or low aspirations. The Department has published research looking at the characteristics of young people who are not participating.

What data is available?

The Department publishes a range of information on young people not in education, employment or training:
  • The Statistical First Release: Participation in education, training and employment by 16- to 18-year-olds in England is published each June. This is a publication of the official statistics, which draws together information from a range of sources to estimate the number and proportion of young people in England who are NEET.
  • The NEET statistics quarterly brief summarises the latest statistics, including quarterly data from the Labour Force Survey for 16- to 18-year-olds and 16- to 24-year-olds.
  • Information on the number of young people NEET in each local area is drawn from the client databases maintained by local authorities. An annual estimate, based on average figures for November to January each year, is available below.  Please note that the figures for 2011 cannot be compared with previous years because in the latest data young people have been recorded according to where they live, rather than where they study, as had been the case in the past.  In line with the Government commitment to make more data available, 2011 figures are shown separately for 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds.
  • The Longitudinal Survey of Young People in England provides information on the characteristics, attainment levels and socio economic status of young people who are NEET.
Links to the publications from each of these data sources can be found in the associated resources section of this page.
There are differences between the figures produced by these three measures. The main reasons for this are that local data only records young people known to the local authority. It records their actual age rather than academic age and does not record as NEET young people who are taking a gap year or are in custody. As a result, the local authorities' measure tends to be lower than that recorded in the Statistical First Release or Quarterly Brief.