Nearly One Million Young People Are NEET — and Work Experience Is Part of the Answer

Published today: 28 May 2026. The government’s independent review into young people and work has landed — and it makes for essential reading for anyone working in further education, youth employment or careers guidance. Here is what it says, why it matters, and what it means for students in Berkshire right now.

The headline: nearly one million young people are NEET

The report, commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions, opens with a stark figure. Nearly one million young people aged 16 to 24 in the UK are not in education, employment or training — what the government calls NEET. That is roughly one in eight young people. And the proportion has barely fallen below 10% in 25 years.

What makes this report different from previous warnings is its honesty about how the situation is getting worse, not better. By 2031, the review forecasts the NEET rate could rise to over 16% — more than 1.25 million young people effectively shut out of adult life before it has properly begun.

It is not laziness. It is a broken system.

One of the most important things this report does is challenge the assumption that young people who are NEET simply do not want to work. In a survey carried out for the review, 84% of NEET young people said they want to find a job, education or training. The review is explicit: young people are not to blame.

What has changed is the environment around them. Entry-level jobs have become harder to get. Recruitment has become more automated and less human. Apprenticeship starts for young people have declined by over 40%. The report describes young people applying for dozens — sometimes hundreds — of jobs and hearing nothing back. Automated rejections. Portals and algorithms screening people out before anyone has looked them in the eye.

At the same time, the proportion of NEET young people who cite a work-limiting health condition has increased by 70% over the past decade. Mental health — anxiety, depression, neurodevelopmental conditions — is now one of the defining features of youth detachment from the labour market, not a peripheral one.

Work experience is named as part of the solution

The review is direct about what schools and colleges need to do differently. It states that careers guidance has improved but remains too unequal, and that work experience is “too often an afterthought.”

It makes a finding that should stop every FE teacher and careers advisor in their tracks: the young people who most need exposure to work are the least likely to receive it.

Children who are not school-ready at age four or five are nearly three times as likely to be NEET at 16 or 17. The signals are visible early. The report argues that the system sees them — poor attendance, low attainment, SEND, family adversity — but acts too late, or not at all.

Work experience, done properly and early, is one of the most powerful interventions available. It builds confidence. It shows young people that the world of work is accessible to them. It gives them something to say in an interview. And critically, it helps them work out what they actually want to do — before they spend years in the wrong direction.

The cost of doing nothing

The report estimates the cumulative annual cost to the country of nearly one million NEET young people at £125 billion. More than the entire annual education budget.

For individual young people, the consequences are devastating. Of today’s 24-year-old NEETs, 45% have never had a job. The review estimates that even if they re-enter the labour market, they will lose up to £300,000 in lifetime earnings because of the time they spent outside work and education. Being NEET leaves a long-term scar.

What this means for students in Berkshire

Berkshire is not immune to any of this. Further education students across Reading, Slough, Bracknell, Windsor, Newbury and the surrounding area face the same structural barriers described in this report — automated hiring, shrinking entry-level opportunities, and in many cases, the kind of anxiety and low confidence that makes taking that first step feel almost impossible.

This is exactly why Valueplacement exists.

We are not a magic solution to a 25-year policy failure. But we are one direct, practical response to one of the specific problems this report identifies: that young people who need work experience the most are the least likely to find it.

Every listing on Valueplacement is an opportunity for a Berkshire FE student to take a first step. A week’s work experience with a local charity. A part-time role around college. A volunteering placement that builds skills and confidence and gives a student something real to talk about.

If you are a student reading this: the system has let you down in ways that are not your fault. But opportunities exist, and they are closer than you think. Browse what is available right now — no account needed, no application form, just real local opportunities you can apply for today.

If you are an employer or charity reading this: the report asks employers to do more. Listing a placement or volunteering role on Valueplacement takes five minutes and costs nothing. You can make a direct, measurable difference to a young person in your community. Post an opportunity here.

Read the full report

The full interim report — Young People and Work — was published today by the Department for Work and Pensions. You can read it in full on GOV.UK. The final report, which will set out specific policy recommendations, is expected later in 2026.

Valueplacement connects further education students in Berkshire with local employers, charities and voluntary organisations offering work experience, placements, part-time jobs and volunteering. It is free for students and free for employers. Find out more.