Trends in young people not in education, employment or training (October – December 2025)

Overview

The Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) latest data shows that the total number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) across the UK is 957,000.

NEET levels remain stubbornly high, particularly compared to four years ago when the rate was 10.3% and 238,000 fewer young people were NEET.

We analyse the two-year longitudinal Annual Population Survey (APS) to compare the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics across long-term and short-term NEET groups.

This summary presents the insights from our analysis.

Key findings

he findings from our analysis indicate that long-term NEET status is concentrated among young people who are disabled, are economically inactive, in receipt of benefits and who have low qualifications. These are characteristics that are also often found to be overlapping. 

• A large majority of disabled NEET young people are NEET long-term. Among disabled young people who are NEET, 67% are long term NEET, compared to 34% who are short-term NEET.  

• Long-term NEET status is strongly concentrated among those who are economically inactive rather than unemployed. Of the long-term NEET group, 83% are economically inactive.   

• Educational attainment is also strongly linked to duration of time spent NEET. Among NEET young people who have not achieved a level 2 or above qualification and are 18 years or older, 69% are long-term NEET. 

The high proportion of economically inactive young people within the long-term NEET group reinforces the need for services to better reach and reengage young people into public employment support. Thoughtful join up between employment, skills and youth services will be essential in addressing this challenge. 

Sources

Labour Force Survey from the Office for National Statistics 

Two-Year Longitudinal Annual Population Survey from the Office for National Statistics 

Five-quarter longitudinal Labour Force Survey from the Office for National Statistics