Education and training participation and NEET (young people)

Rates of participation in education and training and NEET for those aged 16 to 17. NEET and employment rates for under 25s.

Education and skills
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Participation rates (aged 16 and 17)

89.9%

North East education and training participation rate

England excl. London 91.6%
North East: higher rates
for apprenticeships
and workbased learning

92.0%

North Tyneside participation rate

highest in North East
2nd: Gateshead (91.8%)
lowest:
County Durham (87.9%)
 

Decreasing North East rate

2019 to 2023: -1.1 pp
England excl. London: -0.5 pp
NE apprenticeships: -0.6 pp

86.6%

North East aged 17 rate

England excl. London: 87.4%
aged 16 rate:
North East: 91.3%
England excl. London: 93.7%


Participation by characteristic

90.8%

North East female participation rate

male rate: 89.0%
England excl. London:
female rate: 92.6%
male rate: 90.6%

93.5%

Gateshead female participation rate

North East's highest.
highest male rate:
North Tyneside (91.4%)

82.2%

North East SEN participation rate

non-SEN rate: 90.7%
England excl. London:
SEN: 85.2%, non-SEN: 92.6%

96.9%

North East rate for black people

highest among ethnic groups,
rates vary for other groups
from 88.4% to 96.7%
lowest: white ethnic group


NEET or activity not known (aged 16 and 17)

5.3%

North East NEET/not known rate

England excl. London 5.6%
North East NEET rate
higher than nationally
North East n/k rate lower

6.6%

Newcastle NEET/not known rate

highest among North East
local authority areas,
lowest in Gateshead (4.7%)
and Sunderland (4.8%)

decreasing North East rate

2019 to 2023: -1.7 pp
England excl. London: -0.1 pp
North East NEET rate: +0.5 pp
North East n/k rate: -2.2 pp

6.8%

North East aged 17 rate

England excl. London: 7.3%
aged 16 rate:
North East: 4.0%
England excl. London: 3.9%


NEET/not known rate by characteristic

4.9%

North East female NEET/not known rate

male rate: 5.8%
England excl. London
female rate: 5.0%
male rate: 6.2%

3.4%

Gateshead female NEET/not known rate

North East's lowest.
lowest male rate:
North Tyneside (5.1%)

11.4%

North East SEN NEET/not known rate

non-SEN rate: 4.7%
England excl. London:
SEN: 10.4%, non-SEN: 4.9%

6.0%

North East rate for white people

highest among ethnic groups,
rates vary for other groups
from 0.0% to 5.3%.
lowest: Chinese ethnic group


Broader age groups

The annual NEET age 16 to 24 publication from the DfE usually includes rates for the nine broad English statistical regions, including the North East region. For 2023, however, the regional rates were excluded due to small sample sizes leading to them being less robust than previously.

In 2022, in the broad North East region:

  • The 16 to 24 NEET rate was the highest among the nine English regions
  • the same was true of the 18 to 24 NEET rate
  • both rates had increased sharply when compared to 2021
  • the 16 to 24 rate was at its highest level since 2014. The 18 to 24 rate was at its highest since 2010.

According to the ONS Annual Population Survey, in the North East combined authority area in 2023, among people aged 18 to 24:

  • About 66% were in employment, with just over 22% in full-time education
  • these two groups overlapped, because some full-time students were in part-time employment
  • the North East employment rate was higher than the England excluding London rate, with the full-time education rate being lower
  • within the North East, the employment rate was highest among County Durham residents and the full-time education rate was highest among those from Newcastle
  • the latest North East employment rate was the highest across the time series, which began in 2004. The latest full-time education rate was the lowest in this period. Note, however, that there are caveats about the latest rates being less robust than in previous years due to lower response rates.

Data sources

The source of local NEET data is the annual DfE release "Participation in education, training and NEET age 16 to 17 by local authority". This is based on administrative information drawn from local databases.

Although the local authority release includes national data, DfE’s definitive statistics on participation and NEET are published in "Participation in education, training and employment age 16 to 18". These have a broader age group but include no regional or local data.

The DfE "NEET statistics 16-24" annual brief uses responses to the Labour Force Survey to estimate NEET rates at a regional level. Administrative information is not available for this broader age group.

At a local level, the Annual Population Survey (via Nomis) provides rates of employment and full-time education within the under-25 age group. Employment includes part-time working and some young people can be both employed and in full-time education in this dataset.