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Education and training participation and NEET (young people)

Rates of participation in education and training and NEET for those aged 16 to 17. NEET and employment rates for under 25s.

Education and skills Newcastle North Tyneside South Tyneside Durham Gateshead Sunderland Northumberland
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Participation rates (aged 16 and 17)

89.9%

North East education and training participation rate

England excl. London 91.6%
North East: higher rates
for apprenticeships
and workbased learning

92.0%

North Tyneside participation rate

highest in North East
2nd: Gateshead (91.8%)
lowest:
County Durham (87.9%)
 

Decreasing North East rate

2019 to 2023: -1.1 pp
England excl. London: -0.5 pp
NE apprenticeships: -0.6 pp

86.6%

North East aged 17 rate

England excl. London: 87.4%
aged 16 rate:
North East: 91.3%
England excl. London: 93.7%


Participation by characteristic

90.8%

North East female participation rate

male rate: 89.0%
England excl. London:
female rate: 92.6%
male rate: 90.6%

93.5%

Gateshead female participation rate

North East's highest.
highest male rate:
North Tyneside (91.4%)

82.2%

North East SEN participation rate

non-SEN rate: 90.7%
England excl. London:
SEN: 85.2%, non-SEN: 92.6%

96.9%

North East rate for black people

highest among ethnic groups,
rates vary for other groups
from 88.4% to 96.7%
lowest: white ethnic group


NEET or activity not known (aged 16 and 17)

5.3%

North East NEET/not known rate

England excl. London 5.6%
North East NEET rate
higher than nationally
North East n/k rate lower

6.6%

Newcastle NEET/not known rate

highest among North East
local authority areas,
lowest in Gateshead (4.7%)
and Sunderland (4.8%)

decreasing North East rate

2019 to 2023: -1.7 pp
England excl. London: -0.1 pp
North East NEET rate: +0.5 pp
North East n/k rate: -2.2 pp

6.8%

North East aged 17 rate

England excl. London: 7.3%
aged 16 rate:
North East: 4.0%
England excl. London: 3.9%


NEET/not known rate by characteristic

4.9%

North East female NEET/not known rate

male rate: 5.8%
England excl. London
female rate: 5.0%
male rate: 6.2%

3.4%

Gateshead female NEET/not known rate

North East's lowest.
lowest male rate:
North Tyneside (5.1%)

11.4%

North East SEN NEET/not known rate

non-SEN rate: 4.7%
England excl. London:
SEN: 10.4%, non-SEN: 4.9%

6.0%

North East rate for white people

highest among ethnic groups,
rates vary for other groups
from 0.0% to 5.3%.
lowest: Chinese ethnic group


Broader age groups

17.2%

North East region 16-24 NEET rate

18-24 rate: 20.0%
both highest regional rates
England excl. London:
16-24: 12.8%, 18-24: 14.9%

rising North East NEET rate (16-24)

2017 to 2022: +3.2 pp
18-24 rate: +3.4 pp
England excl. London:
16-24: +1.6 pp, 18-24: +1.9 pp

56.0%

North East 18-24 employment rate

F-T education rate: 31.5%
England excl. London
employment rate: 63.0%
F-T education rate: 32.0%

NE 18-24 employment rate falling

2017 to 2022: -2.1 pp
F-T education rate: -3.2 pp
England excl. London
both rates slightly increased


Data sources

The source of local NEET data is the annual DfE release "Participation in education, training and NEET age 16 to 17 by local authority". This is based on administrative information rather drawn from local databases.

Although the local authority release includes national data, DfE’s definitive statistics on participation and NEET are published in "Participation in education, training and employment age 16 to 18". These have a broader age group but include no regional or local data.

The DfE "NEET statistics 16-24" annual brief uses responses to the Labour Force Survey to estimate NEET rates at a regional level. Administrative information is not available for this broader age group.

At a local level, the Annual Population Survey (via Nomis) provides rates of employment and full-time education within the under-25 age group. Employment includes part-time working and some young people can be both employed and in full-time education in this dataset.