Estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) in England.
LFS data has been reweighted from January 2019 onwards which has led to revisions in previously published estimates and a discontinuity in the timeseries. Comparisons of levels prior to the discontinuity should be viewed with caution. Full details of the reweighting can be found here: Impact of reweighting on LFS key indicators (opens in a new tab). Due to the reweighting users should not go back to earlier versions of the release.
The ongoing challenges with response rates and levels mean that LFS statistics will be badged as "official statistics in development" until further review.
13.6%
Up 1.5 percentage points compared to 2023
NEET refers to those not in education, employment or training.
4.6%
Up 0.7 percentage points compared to 2023
16.2%
Up 1.7 percentage points compared to 2023
The latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates for England show 837,000 16-24-year-olds (based on academic age) were not in education, employment or training (NEET) between October and December 2024, an increase of 103,600. That is 13.6%, or almost 1 in 7 young people in that age range.
The latest estimate shows an annual increase of 1.5 percentage points and the continuation of an upward trend in NEET rates seen since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
The ONS (opens in a new tab) published seasonally adjusted figures for the UK (based on actual age at the time surveyed) covering the same period which showed 13.4% NEET with a similar annual increase of 1.3 percentage points.
England estimates show that young men are more likely than young women to be NEET, 14.5% of all male 16-24-year-olds were NEET, compared with 12.6% of females, both increasing in 2024.
The increase in NEET has been driven by less in employment. Both the proportions unemployed (5.5%) and inactive (8.1%) have increased since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and are the highest in the period.
Analysis from the Annual Population Survey (APS) suggests that over half of those NEET had a health condition in 2024 with over 1 in 6 of those NEET currently report having a mental health condition.
Since 2013, those aged 16 and 17 are required to remain in education or training (under Raising Participation Age (RPA) legislation) and therefore have a lower estimated NEET rate than those aged over 18 of 4.6%. Males have a slightly higher NEET rate than females, 4.9% compared with 4.2%.
A statistically significant fall in those in employment (not in education and training) to 1.4% of the age 16/17 population has led to a 0.7 percentage point increase in the NEET rate. The fall in employment has been partially offset by an annual increase in the proportion in education and training to 94.0%. The latest NEET estimate is comparable to levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Those aged 18-24, who won’t be subject to RPA, have a higher estimated NEET rate which in 2024 was 16.2%.
Many of the 18-24 age group are no longer in education and are instead in the labour market. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic the NEET rate has fluctuated however, there has been a notable increase in the latest year, up 1.7 percentage points. This was again driven by falls in proportions in employment with proportions in education and training remaining relatively stable.
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This section aims to summarise the drivers for the annual changes in NEET rates by focussing on changes in the proportions in:
Due to large differences in these rates between those of compulsory school age (16-17) and those age 18-24 who are more likely to be in the labour market, analysis at these ages are included below.
Analysis of the latest trends are provided in the sections below. The following supplementary tables provide the headline figures.
You can explore the data further and build your own tables with our online table tool builder.
The proportion NEET varies by age:
All estimates should be viewed alongside associated 95% confidence intervals as shown in the table.
In addition to the trends noted above for compulsory and non-compulsory participation age, the table below shows other grouped ages of interest. The annual change increase in the proportion of 16-21 year olds NEET is a statistically significant change meaning we can be confident that there is an increase in the 16-21 population NEET rate based on analysis of this sample from the Labour Force Survey. However, please note previous cautions with LFS survey data and the volatility of estimates.
NEET rate by age, England, October to December 2023-2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academic age (age as at 31st August) | Oct to Dec 2023 | Oct to Dec 2024 | 95% confidence interval for Oct to Dec 2024 (percentage limits) | Annual change from Oct-Dec 2023 to 2024 (percentage points, statistically significant changes in bold) |
| Ages 16-17 | 3.9% | 4.6% | (+/-1.2) 3.4% - 5.8% | 0.7pp |
| Ages 16-18 | 6.3% | 7.8 % | (+/-1.3) 6.5% - 9.1% | 1.5pp |
| Ages 16-21 | 9.4% | 11.3% | (+/-1.2) 10.1% - 12.5% | 1.9pp |
| Ages 18-21 | 12.3% | 14.7% | (+/-1.7) 13.0% -16.5% | 2.5pp |
| Ages 18-24 | 14.5% | 16.2% | (+/-1.4) 14.8% - 17.6% | 1.7pp |
| Ages 16-24 | 12.1% | 13.6% | (+/-1.1) 12.5% - 14.7% | 1.5pp |
NEET rates are also available in the underlying data by individual age. Rates vary notably when looking across individual ages as do the annual changes. Confidence intervals, remain large for individual age analysis and therefore NEET estimates by individual age must be used with caution and considered alongside associated 95% confidence intervals. Grouped age analysis provides more robust estimates with smaller confidence intervals.
The following section shows in more detail the reasons that young people aged 16-24 are NEET. Data for 2024 shows that:
Please note, due to small sample sizes, breakdowns of NEET labour market status i.e. inactive and unemployed are only provided for the combined ages 16-24. All estimates should be viewed alongside associated 95% confidence intervals as shown in the underlying data.
There are some differences by sex in the main reason for being NEET at ages 16-24:
The proportion of the male population both short and long-term unemployed have increased in the latest year but are comparable to pre-COVID 19 pandemic rates. There have also been small increases in the proportion who are inactive due to being long-term or temporarily sick (now the highest in the series which started in 2000) and those with 'other' reasons (also one of the highest in the series).
The proportion of the female population short-term unemployment has increased, with 3.4% estimated to be unemployed for less than 6 months at the end of 2024 - this is the highest rate since 2012 in the historic timeseries. In contrast the proportion of females long term unemployed is estimated to be the lowest since 2003.
Overall economic inactivity for the female population has remained fairly stable. However, there has been an increase in the percentage of females inactive due to ‘other’ reasons, and this estimate is the highest since the series began in 2000 at 2.9%.
Other reasons includes those waiting for education or employment to start or not wanting to participate.
The following analysis uses Annual Population Survey (APS) data covering the twelve month period from October to September for the years 2012 to 2024. Due to larger sample sizes in the APS we use this data when looking at specific groups in the population. To note, APS data has not currently been reweighted and therefore comparisons can be made across the timeseries. It does not however cover any period of the 2024/25 academic year.
The headline rate in this release of 13.6% is the LFS quarter 4 2024 rate (first three months of academic year 2024/25). This period is not covered by the following APS analysis. NEET rates are seasonal with higher rates typically in the summer. LFS quarter 4 is used for the main headline measures as this is the first data available for the latest academic year. Because of the seasonality in the data (see section on seasonal effects) trends can differ between the annual APS and single quarter estimates from the LFS.
Overall NEET rate estimates are comparable using the APS and LFS when comparing the same 12-month period. For October 2023-September 2024, the APS NEET rate for 16-24 year olds was 13.2%. This is the same rate when averaging the four quarters for the same period for LFS data.
The following chart shows the overall APS NEET rate over time compared to the proportion of NEETs with a health condition, which may contribute to their reason for being NEET.
The following section shows the primary type of health condition reported by 16-24 NEETs and how the proportion varies over time.
In the latest year:
In 2024 those NEET were estimated to be nearly twice as likely to have a health condition compared to the overall 16-24 population. The rates of those with a health condition are the highest in the series for both NEETs and the overall population at 51.3% and 27.4% respectively (see chart below).
In the first half of the timeseries the increase in reported health conditions was largely due to increases in the proportion of young people reporting a mental health condition. However in recent years, proportions reporting a mental health condition as their primary condition have fallen slightly and those reporting a non-mental health condition, specifically learning difficulties including Autism has seen an increase. (To note: this was a new category introduced in 2020 and it is not known where respondents with Autism would have categorised their condition prior to its introduction).
Almost a third (32.4%) of NEETs aged 16-24 and nearly a fifth (19.0%) of the overall 16-24 population reported a non-mental health condition, the highest proportions in the series.
In the latest year:
The proportion NET varies by age:
All estimates should be considered alongside associated 95% confidence intervals as shown in the table.
In addition to the trends noted above for compulsory and non-compulsory participation age :
NET rates by age, England, October to December 2023-2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academic age (age as at 31st August) | Oct to Dec 2023 | Oct to Dec 2024 | 95% confidence interval for Oct to Dec 2024 (percentage limits) | Annual change in NET rate from Oct-Dec 2023 to 2024(percentage points, statistically significant changes in bold) |
| Ages 16-17 | 7.3% | 6.0% | (+/- 1.4) 4.6% - 7.3% | -1.3pp |
| Ages 16-18 | 12.9% | 14.7% | (+/- 1.7) 12.9% - 16.4% | 1.7pp (Note: driven by a statistically significant increase at age 18) |
| Ages 16-21 | 27.9% | 29.2% | (+/- 1.7) 27.5% - 30.9% | 1.4pp |
| Ages 18-21 | 38.4% | 41.0% | (+/- 2.4) 38.6% - 43.4% | 2.6pp |
| Ages 18-24 | 52.0% | 52.3% | (+/- 1.9) 50.4% - 54.2% | 0.3pp |
| Ages 16-24 | 42.0% | 42.0% | (+/- 1.6) 40.4% - 43.5% | 0.0pp |
Participation in education and training is the inverse of those NET. For ease of reference, the following table shows the proportions in education and training:
In education and training rates by age, England, October to December 2023-2024 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academic age (age as at 31st August) | Oct to Dec 2023 | Oct to Dec 2024 | 95% confidence interval for Oct to Dec 2024 (percentage limits) | Annual change from Oct-Dec 2023 to 2024 (percentage points, statistically significant changes in bold) |
| Ages 16-17 | 92.7% | 94.0% | (+/-1.4) 92.7% - 95.4% | 1.3pp |
| Ages 16-18 | 87.1% | 85.3% | (+/-1.7) 83.6% - 87.1% | -1.7pp (Note: driven by a statistically significant decrease at age 18) |
| Ages 16-21 | 72.1% | 70.8% | (+/-1.7) 69.1% - 72.5% | -1.4pp |
| Ages 18-21 | 61.6% | 59.0% | (+/-2.4) 56.6%- 61.4% | -2.6pp |
| Ages 18-24 | 48.0% | 47.7% | (+/-1.9) 45.8% - 49.6% | -0.3pp |
| Ages 16-24 | 58.0% | 58.0% | (+/-1.6) 56.5% - 59.6% | 0.0pp |
NET rates are also available in the underlying data by individual age and NET annual change varies when looking across these ages. Confidence intervals, however, remain large for individual age analysis and therefore NET estimates by individual age must be used with caution and considered alongside associated 95% confidence intervals. Grouped age analysis provides more robust estimates with smaller confidence intervals.
NEET rates exhibit seasonal patterns that tend to reflect the academic year: typically there are lower rates in autumn (October to December) followed by a gradual rise in spring and early summer (January to June) with a peak in late summer (July to September).
The chart below shows the quarterly NEET estimates since 2010 and demonstrates these seasonal effects.
Users should be aware that figures for young people who are NEET and NET are published in other statistics releases. The table below provides a summary of the four related releases and gives information on their content.
| Title | Participation in education, training and employment | NEET aged 16 to 24 | Young people NEET | Local authority NEET and participation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer | Department for Education | Department for Education | Office for National Statistics | Department for Education |
| Status | Accredited Official Statistics | Official Statistics in Development | Official Statistics in Development | Transparency data |
| Age range | 16-18 | 16-24 | 16-24 | 16-17 |
| Age type | Academic age[1] | Academic age[1] | Actual age | Academic age[1] |
| Country | England | England | UK | England |
| Regional breakdowns | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| LA breakdown | No | No | No | Yes |
| Data type | Mostly administrative | Survey | Survey | Management information from NCCIS [3] |
| Frequency of publication | Annually | Annually | Quarterly | Annually |
| Seasonally adjusted | No | No | Yes | No |
| When to use?[2] | England NEET (and participation) figures, age 16-18 | England/regional NEET figures, age 16-24 (includes reasons NEET) | UK NEET figures, age 16-24 (published quarterly so often most timely) | LA/regional NEET (and participation) figures, age 16-17 (includes pupil characteristics) |
[1] Academic age is defined as ‘age at the start of the academic year’ i.e. age as at 31 August. Actual age is defined as ‘respondents age at the time surveyed’.
[2] Left to right indicates recommended order of preference in which the statistics should be used based on most users’ needs and robustness of the data.
[3] National Client Caseload Information System (NCCIS) provides local authorities (LAs) with the information they need to support young people to engage in education and training; to identify those who are not participating and to plan services that meet young people’s needs.
Participation in education, training and employment statistics are DfE’s (Department for Education’s) definitive statistics on participation, NEET and NET for the 16-18 age group. As these estimates are based on administrative data, they are considered the most robust available. The estimates relate to a snapshot of activities at the end of the calendar year,
DfE’s October to December NEET/NET estimates using the Labour Force Survey (usually published February/March each year) are indicative of the end of year NEET/NET figures in the Participation release (usually published June each year). The chart below shows how estimates from the two sources have compared since 2000.
In 2020 and 2021 there was more divergence between rates for LFS data and Participation data. This may have been as a result of differences in reporting methods during the COVID-19 pandemic. LFS data is survey data where NEET/NET status is self-reported by the young person, whereas the Participation release uses administrative data, reported by institutions.
For 2023, the difference in the NET and NEET rates have widened slightly after narrowing in 2022. A longer time series will help identify if rates are becoming more comparable again or if they will continue to differ in the long term.
The next Participation statistics, covering the period end 2024, are scheduled to be published in summer 2025.
Age 16-17 regional and local authority NEET estimates (opens in a new tab) are published annually by DfE as transparency data. Figures on NEETs are provided as an average of December, January and February. This information comes from local authorities NCCIS systems (National Client Caseload Information System).
Similar to the trend seen in the chart above for 16-18 year olds, NEET rates for young people aged 16 to 17 shows divergence across the different NEET sources for the years 2020 and 2021 (see chart below). Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the gap between these estimates narrowed in 2022. However latest data for 2023 shows a slight widening again, although it should be noted that rates from the Participation release now lie within the confidence intervals for the LFS estimate. A longer time series will be required to assess the long term trend and if rates across the sources are becoming more or less comparable.
Some caution should be taken if using the NCCIS figures. This is due to the estimates being based on management information which means they are not produced to the same standards as official statistics. Also, the NCCIS figures include ‘not known’ activity, which results in some overestimation of NEET, as can be seen in the chart when comparing the NCCIS figures to the LFS and participation figures.
The proportion of those aged 16/17 whose activities are ‘not known’ varies at local authority/regional level and between years so particular caution should be taken when making geographic and/or time-series comparisons.
Users should also be aware of the ONS (Office for National Statistics) release: Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), UK - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) (opens in a new tab).
Whilst they are based on the same quarterly LFS data, the NEET and NET figures in the DfE release differ from those in the ONS release due to coverage and methodological differences as shown in the “Other NEET sources” table above.
The headline ONS figures are seasonally adjusted whilst the DfE figures are not and this accounts for most of the differences. The respective use of academic age (DfE) and actual age (ONS) has little impact at overall age 16-24 (but is more notable at the younger 16/17 age group). Whilst the ONS and DfE figures are based on UK and England respectively, this only accounts for a small degree of variation as the UK figures are primarily driven by England.
The ONS seasonally adjusted 16-24 UK NEET figure for October to December 2024 was 13.4%, compared with the DfE (non-seasonally adjusted) 16-24 England NEET figure of 13.6%, a difference of 0.2 percentage points.
In addition to the volatility of LFS estimates due to sample sizes, there has also been a reweighting exercise. Therefore small differences may be seen when comparing to previously published rates. The new reweighted LFS estimates incorporates latest estimates of the size and composition of the UK population, improving the representativeness of LFS estimates. However, LFS data has only been reweighted from January 2019 onwards. Therefore, this reweighting exercise creates a discontinuity at this point and comparisons before this point should be made with caution. For more information about the reweighting exercise please see here: Impact of reweighting on Labour Force Survey. (opens in a new tab)
These statistics are based on quarterly Labour Force Survey (LFS) (opens in a new tab) data. They provide estimates of young people: not in education, employment or training (NEET) and not in education or training (NET).
The NEET and NET rates both capture young people who are not in education or training. However, NEET also captures those young people not in employment. Employment has a larger impact on NEET rates for those post compulsory education age (18+) as many are active in the labour market.
These statistics cover 16-24 year olds in England, together with other age breakdowns within that bracket e.g. 16-17 and 18-24 year olds. Estimates are based on academic age, defined as ‘age at the start of the academic year’ i.e. age as at 31 August. They also include some breakdowns by:
These statistics should be used to see latest trends in NEET rates for 16-24 year olds. Trends are assessed by comparing the latest quarter’s data with the same period in an earlier year to account for seasonal effects.
Data is provided up to and including October to December 2024.
As quarter four (October to December) 2024 is the latest data available and the first full quarter of the 2024/25 academic year, commentary in this release focuses mainly on this quarter.
See 'Other NEET sources' section for further information on related statistics on:
Feedback
We would welcome feedback on any aspect of this publication at Post16.STATISTICS@education.gov.uk.
Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.
These statistics are undergoing a development. They have been developed under the guidance of the Head of Profession for Statistics and published to involve users and stakeholders at an early stage in assessing their suitability and quality.
They have been produced as far as possible in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics.
This can be broadly interpreted to mean that these statistics are:
Find out more about the standards we follow to produce these statistics through our Standards for official statistics published by DfE guidance.
If you have a specific enquiry about NEET age 16 to 24 statistics and data:
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