Mon, 10 Jan 2011
School leavers who want to get straight into the world of work still have limited options, according to an article in the Financial Times this week.
The publication claims there is a severe lack of vocational training courses and options to learn at work for young people in the UK. The article describes how, even during the economic boom, one in ten young people were becoming ‘neets’ (not in employment, education or training).
Although the situation was an issue during the boom years, the problem has become significantly more serious, with unemployment among 16-18 year olds standing at 33 per cent, falling slightly to 17.5 per cent for 18-24 year olds.
This year the rising number of people who will struggle to get a place at university will add to the problem. The Department for Business now claims that many of the 150,000 who fail to get into university will take vocational places, such as apprenticeships, from the 16-year-old school leavers who usually take them.
Evidence of this emerging problem came last week when BT revealed that over 100 people applied for each of its apprenticeship places.
There are now calls for the introduction of another level of vocational training for young people that could straddle the gap in training between GCSEs and higher education qualifications. Firms are also being encouraged by the government to offer more higher level apprenticeships that can help people transfer their skills to more advanced education or employment.
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The learndirect team