Region one of worst for young people without qualifications or training

There are 85,900 young people in the region without any qualifications according to a new report today which warns that they are four times as likely to be out of work as those with A-levels.

The University and College Union has published statistics showing the level of 16 to 24 year-olds in 200 education authorities in Britain who do not have any academic qualifications.

Two-thirds of the 15 council areas in the region have more young people with no qualifications than the average.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Calderdale has the highest rate at 17.2 per cent meaning around one in six people under the age of 24 have left education without passing an exam. Hull, Barnsley, Bradford and Rotherham are the region's other worst performers

The UCU warned that the funding system for further education was too complicated.

General secretary Sally Hunt said: "The current funding streams for further education are a complete minefield and impossible to navigate. It's as if the system has been designed deliberately to put people off.

"It is deeply worrying that young people with no qualifications are over four times more likely to be unemployed than youngsters with an A-level."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The UCU yesterday allowed young people who are classed as NEET – not in employment, education or training – to grill politicians.

Diane Johnson, 21 from Pontefract, said: "I am currently looking for a job and would like to study at college but it's really hard to find a course. Because I am over 19 they cost loads of money and I was forced to drop out because the funding I needed was delayed by two months. Politicians need to start listening or there will be more people facing the same obstacles as me."