ONS statistics estimated 12.8% of young people were NEET in the quarter, up by up 0.1 percentage points compared with July to September 2025, and down 0.4 percentage points on the year.

An estimated 13.3% of young men (down 0.1 percentage points on the quarter) and 12.2% of young women (up 0.3 percentage points on the quarter) were NEET.

There were 957,000 young people who were NEET in total, an increase of 11,000 on the quarter. This increase was largely caused by young women, with an increase of 13,000 on the quarter, while young men saw a decrease of 2,000. Of the total number of young people who were NEET, 510,000 were young men and 448,000 were young women.

The total number of people aged 18 to 24 years who were NEET was 891,000, up 11,000 on the previous quarter.

Sam Atwell, policy and research manager, Healthy Lives at The Health Foundation, said: 'The continued rise of young people not in education, employment or training should be a wake‑up call. Not working or learning can have profound consequences for young people's current and future health, earnings and life opportunities.

'Poor health is increasingly a factor behind young people not in work or education. This creates a cycle that is hard to break: ill‑health makes it harder to participate, and not earning or learning for long periods can worsen mental and physical health over time.'

Former health secretary Alan Milburn launched a NEET investigation in November 2025.

Atwell said: ‘Alan Milburn's independent review is the opportunity to dismantle the structural issues that lead to young people, particularly those with health challenges, prematurely falling out of education and struggling to get a foothold in the labour market.

'This will require action on two fronts. We need to see early intervention in schools to prevent young people from falling through the cracks. We also need to provide suitable routes and support back into learning and employment for young people who are already out of work or education.'

Work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden said: ‘Today's figures show the number of young people not in education, employment or training remains a concern and underlines the long-term challenge we are facing. The number has been rising since 2022, with the majority of that increase occurring before July last year. 

‘That is why tackling the crisis of opportunity facing too many young people is one of my top priorities. We are investing £1.5bn to tackle youth unemployment, backing businesses to hire young people by fully funding apprenticeships for SMEs, creating 50,000 additional apprenticeships in priority growth sectors and rolling out our Youth Guarantee, so every young person has the chance to earn or learn.'