Academic year 2023/24

Participation in education, training and NEET age 16 to 17 by local authority

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Introduction

This release presents data for England showing the proportion of 16 and 17 year-olds participating in education and training and an estimate of those Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) by local authority (LA).

Data is collected using the National Client Caseload Information System (NCCIS), which draws together local databases used to support young people to engage in education and training and plan services that meet young people’s needs.

Caution should be taken when using these figures due to the estimates being based on management information data. There is considerable variation at local authority level in how well 16 and 17 year olds are tracked, and hence ‘activity not known’ proportions can impact on the estimates of the proportion NEET. 

The release includes an interactive scorecard (dashboard) to enable local authorities (LAs) to compare their performance with other LAs. The scorecard aims to put the headline measures into context by presenting it alongside other measures related to attainment and attendance.

NEET Comparative Scorecard (opens in a new tab)

Related information

Releases in this series

View releases (2) for Participation in education, training and NEET age 16 to 17 by local authority

Methodologies

Headline facts and figures - 2023/24

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View related dashboard(s)

NEET Comparative LA Dashboard (opens in a new tab)

This interactive dashboard (previously referred to as a scorecard) is included in order for local authorities (LAs) to evaluate their performance against other LAs. It includes measures for 16 and 17 year olds on participation, proportions not in education, employment and training (NEET), and data showing NEET/not known rates for vulnerable groups. It also includes information on LA attainment and absence rates to provide additional context.

Most of the information has already been published, either as part of this release or in a number of different publications (see dashboard ‘Homepage ’ for more information).

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Tables

The tables below have been created to allow quick access to key information:

You can explore the data further and build your own tables with our online table tool builder from the “Download data and files” section above.

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Maps

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Data source

Local authorities in England must report information to the Department for Education through the National Client Caseload Information System (NCCIS). The number of 16 and 17-year-olds known to the local authority and information about the young person's activity are recorded on the local authority client databases, extracts from which are used for this underlying data. 

Local authorities are required to provide:

  • basic information about young people in their area (such as name and address)
  • their needs and characteristics (gender, ethnic group, disability, care leaver)
  • their post-16 transition plans (intended destination, September Guarantee offers)
  • their current activity and when this was last confirmed.

The age of the learner is measured at the beginning of the academic year, 31 August.

Further information can be found in the accompanying methodology. 

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Legislation

Legislation was introduced in 2013/14 increasing the age to which all young people in England are required to remain in education or training.

Introduced in two stages, it applied to:

  • Young people who left year 11 in summer 2013, who were required to stay in some form of education or training for at least a further year until 27th June 2014.
  • Young people who started in year 11 (or years below) in September 2013, who were required to continue until at least their 18th birthday.

The first cohort impacted by stage 1 of the Raising the participation age (RPA) legislation were academic age 16 (usually year 12) in 2013/14 and academic age 17 in 2014/15. Those young people impacted by stage 2 of RPA were academic age 16 in 2014/15 and age 17 in 2015/16.

The government provides the framework and funding to increase participation and reduce the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), however, responsibility and accountability for delivery lies with local authorities. Under Section 68 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 (ESA 2008) local authorities have a duty to encourage, enable or assist young people’s participation in education or training. 

The government publishes local authority participation data so that members of the public can make informed decisions about the performance of their own local authority.

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Other data sources and publications

Participation and NEET figures are also published in other statistics releases. The table below provides a summary of the four related releases.

TitleParticipation in education, training and employmentNEET aged 16 to 24 Young people NEETLocal authority NEET and participation
ProducerDepartment for EducationDepartment for EducationOffice for National StatisticsDepartment for Education
StatusAccredited Official StatisticsOfficial Statistics in DevelopmentOfficial Statistics in DevelopmentTransparency data
Age range16-1816-2416-2416-17
Age typeAcademic age[1]Academic age[1]Actual ageAcademic age[1]
CountryEnglandEnglandUKEngland
Regional breakdownsNoYes[2]NoYes
LA breakdownNoNoNoYes
Data typeMostly administrativeSurveySurveyManagement information
Frequency of publicationAnnuallyAnnuallyQuarterlyAnnually
Seasonally adjustedNoNoYesNo
When to use?[3]England NEET (and participation) figures, age 16-18England/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] Regional breakdowns are usually included in the NEET aged 16 to 24 release. However for the 2023 publication regional breakdowns have not been included due to the small sample size.

[3] 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.  

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Help and support

Methodology

Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.

Management information

Management information describes aggregate information collated and used in the normal course of business to inform operational delivery, policy development or the management of organisational performance. It is usually based on administrative data but can also be a product of survey data. The terms administrative data and management information are sometimes used interchangeably.

Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about Participation in education, training and NEET age 16 to 17 by local authority statistics and data:

Post 16 Participation, NEET and Attainment Statistics

Email: post16.statistics@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Anneka Albon
Telephone: 0

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