Young People: Education and Training
(asked on 24th October 2016) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of data published by the Department for Education on 13 October showing that the proportion of 16- and 17-year olds in England not participating in education and training, as required by the Education and Skills Act 2008, stood at June 2016 at 9.1 per cent, what is the full breakdown of the activities of this group of 16- and 17-year olds; and what steps they are taking to reduce the proportion of those in the age group who are failing to participate.
The figures published in June 2016 showed estimates of activities of young people as at the end of 2015. These showed that 9.1% of young people at age 16/17 were not in education or work-based learning (apprenticeships) at the end of 2015. The breakdown of the activities recorded for this group are as follows (with corresponding figures from end 2010 for comparison):
| 2010 | 2015 |
Employer Funded Training | 1.9% | 2.5% |
Other Education and Training* | 0.7% | 0.6% |
Not in any education or training - in employment | 2.8% | 2.0% |
Not in any education, employment or training (NEET) | 6.7% | 3.9% |
All not in education or work based learning | 12.0% | 9.1% |
*Wholly privately funded training not picked in the administrative data collections is included under other education and training (OET) which is estimated using the Labour Force Survey
The government is determined to do more to encourage young people to participate in education and training and that is why we are investing around £7 billion in 2016-17 to fund education and training places for 16 to 19 year-olds.
Under Raising the Participation Age (RPA), all young people are required to continue in education or training until at least their 18th birthday. The Department for Education works closely with local authorities, which have a duty to track and support young people to participate.
In addition to this duty, pathfinders to test Jobcentre Plus support for young people in schools have started and will be rolled out across England by March 2017. Improvements to careers education and guidance are also underway with £90m to be invested over this Parliament – including £20m to increase the number of mentors to support those young people who most need it. Youth Engagement Fund and Fair Chance Fund projects are helping to improve the prospects of 9,600 young people, and an additional £105m was announced in the Spending Review to scale up Social Impact Bonds over the Parliament, to help deal with issues including youth unemployment.
These initiatives, alongside broader work including: curriculum; qualifications and technical education reform; apprenticeships expansion and reform; traineeships; and the 16-19 Bursary Fund, continue to support young people by ensuring that they are able to gain the skills and qualifications they need for their future employment or continuing education and by removing barriers to participation.