Britain’s schools are failing young people by prioritising academic exams over vocational training, leaving a growing generation of so-called Neets — those not in education, employment or training — to pay the price, according to a damning new assessment of the country’s welfare and education systems.
A report on Neets published in May by Alan Milburn, the former Labour cabinet minister, described a generation of roughly one million mostly poor Britons who are now encouraged to fare worse, not better, than their parents. Milburn said this means “the great British promise” — the advance of generations — is being broken, with a sizeable chunk of the population going backwards.
The number of young people not in education, employment or training now stands at one in eight of all 16- to 24-year-olds and is rising fast. Projections suggest the figure will reach 1.25 million by 2030. More than 80% of those affected say they want to find a job, education or training, and a third even hold good GCSE qualifications, yet 44% of them are on state benefits, which now cost £8.1bn.
The report highlights a total mismatch between what schools teach and life beyond their gates. An obsession with exams, combined with a lack of vocational training options, leaves many young people unprepared for the labour market. The system, critics argue, channels students towards academic qualifications that do not translate into employment opportunities, while those who struggle academically are left with few alternatives.
Health data adds to the concern. Many Neets suffer from anxiety and other disabilities, according to the NHS, and the number of young people with special educational needs has doubled in ten years. Mental ill-health among the age group is bordering on pandemic levels, compounding the barriers they face in entering work or further study.
The findings raise urgent questions about the effectiveness of Britain’s education policy and its welfare state. With costs rising and the cohort of disengaged young people expanding, the report calls for a fundamental rethink of how schools prepare pupils for adult life. Vocational training, apprenticeships and stronger links between education and employers are among the measures needed to reverse the trend, the report suggests.
Without intervention, the social and economic consequences will deepen. A generation growing up outside education and employment risks long-term dependency on benefits, poor health outcomes and reduced life chances. The report warns that the promise of each generation doing better than the last — long a cornerstone of British social policy — is now in jeopardy for the country’s poorest young people.