Yorkshire to hit new high for number of drop-outs

YORKSHIRE is heading for its highest ever level of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) once thousands more drop out of the school system this summer.

New results show there were 138,000 young people in the region who were classed as NEET at the end of the second quarter of this year. That represents almost one in five 16 to 24-year-olds and the highest ever figure recorded for this point in the year.

With pupils getting their GCSE results today, however, the figure is expected to surge by the end of the next quarter as students drop out of the education system.

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In previous years Yorkshire has seen an increase of around 30,000 young people added to the NEET figures between the end of the second and third quarters of the year.

If this pattern is repeated then the NEET figures for the third quarter of 2012 are set to be the highest Yorkshire has ever seen.

The latest figures were published yesterday on the eve of GCSE results day as thousands of pupils wait to see how they fared in this summer’s exams.

Experts have predicted the number of pupils getting A-grades might stall this year for the first time since the qualification was brought in replacing O-levels in 1988.

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This is because of pressure to stop year-on-year grade inflation and a tougher science syllabus which is being tested for the first time in this year’s GCSEs.

Nationally the NEET figures show an increase in the past year.

The data from the Department for Education shows that 191,000 youngsters aged between 16 and 18 were considered NEET in the three months up to June.

This is up from 186,000 young people in the same age group at the same point in 2011.

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But the number of 16 to 18 year-olds who fall into this category has fallen compared with five years ago, when 222,000 were not in education, work or training.

The new figures also show that almost a million 16 to 24-year-olds – 968,000 young people – were NEET in the second quarter of this year.

A Government spokeswoman said the number of “NEETs” is still too high, and insisted they were determined to tackle the problem.

“We are spending a record £7.5bn on education and training for 16 to 19-year-olds, we have increased apprenticeship starts with growth across all ages, in all sectors and throughout the country,” she said.

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