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Vocational Education: Unemployment

Asked by James McMurdockIndependentDepartment for EducationTabled Answered 4 September 2026UIN 25640

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press release entitled PM: From today Britain will value the hard hat as much as the graduation cap, published on 28 July 2026, whether the Department has estimated the potential impact of the reforms on youth unemployment.

Answered by Department for Education

The department is still at an early stage of developing the new technical education pathways. Our ambition is to give every young person access to high-quality technical education pathways from age 14 and support progression into further study, training and skilled employment. As policy develops, we will continue to consider the evidence needed to support implementation and evaluation of the pathways.

In addition, the government has announced a package of measures aimed at preventing young people from becoming NEET. These include strengthening identification and support for those at risk, enabling better data sharing between local authorities, schools, and further education providers, and introducing a ‘Risk of NEET’ indicator tool. Schools will also have a stronger role in ensuring every pupil has a clear post-16 destination.

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