A recent publication from the Department for Education (DfE) has shown that, once again, Warwickshire is one of the most successful Counties in the country for ensuring its 16 and 17 year old residents are either in education, employment or training.

The DfE requires all local authorities to collect and report information about a young person’s post-16 activity on a monthly basis. Warwickshire’s numbers of young people either not in education, employment or training (NEETs) are currently standing at less than both the regional (West Midlands) and national averages.

This year, Warwickshire has 1.7% of 16 and 17 year olds in a NEET situation (down from 2% in 2021) and 1.7% whose activities were not known (down from 2% in 2021). This gives a combined score of 3.4% (down from 3.8% in 2021) which compares to the West Midlands average of 5% and the England average of 4.7%. 

This marks a trend in which Warwickshire has been excelling in recent years and the county is now placed amongst the highest performing areas of England, based on comparable local authority areas (size/population etc). Since 2017, Warwickshire has consistently reported significant improvement in the reduction of the numbers of young people who were NEET, including those 16 and 17 year olds whose activity is not known.

All local authorities are required to collect and report information on a young person’s post-16 activity, so that the government can publish a national reports and an overall scorecard.

The DfE can then monitor those 16 and 17 year olds who are not taking part in education, employment and training, (known as NEETs).  The department also introduced a new headline measure in 2016 to include those young people whose activity is not known.

More information about Warwickshire’s support for NEET children in Warwickshire can be found online: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/neet