Participation in full-time education and training among 16-year-olds dropped for the first time since 1990 in the last academic year from 72 to 71 per cent, with a decrease in more than half of all LEAs. However, according to the Department for Education and Employment’s Statistical Bulletin, most LEAs showed increased participation by 17-year-olds from 57 to 58 per cent.
Separate analysis of Labour Force Survey figures by Youthaid shows a record number - 20,300 - of young people who are jobless and receiving no benefit at all.
