Young People and Work in the UK: The Employment, Skills and Opportunity Gap

More than one million young people in the United Kingdom are currently outside education, employment or training.

But this is not simply a story about unemployment.

It is a story about school leavers unable to secure their first opportunity. College leavers with practical qualifications but limited work experience. Apprentices searching for the right employer. Graduates who have completed years of education but cannot find an entry point into their chosen profession.

It is also about young people who have experienced repeated rejection, lost confidence, become disconnected from conventional support or begun to believe that their present circumstances will determine their future.

Behind every statistic is an individual life, a set of abilities and a future that has not yet been fully activated.

I’M MORE believes that potential exists before opportunity appears.

The challenge is helping people discover it, believe in it and make it visible.

More Than One Million Young People

According to the Office for National Statistics report, Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training: May 2026, an estimated 1,012,000 young people aged 16–24 were not in education, employment or training during January to March 2026.

That represented 13.5% of all young people aged 16–24 in the UK.

Within the core 18–24 age group, the estimated number was 928,000.

Approximately 400,000 young people were unemployed and actively seeking work, while an estimated 613,000 were economically inactive. Economic inactivity is an official labour-market classification for people who are not working and do not currently meet the technical definition of unemployment.

These figures are national UK estimates. They should not be presented as precise statistics for Essex or any individual town or county.

The ONS also advises caution when interpreting short-term changes because the figures are survey estimates. Nevertheless, the wider and longer-term picture is clear: too many young people are unable to make a successful transition into education, training or meaningful employment.

1,012,000

Estimated UK young people aged 16–24 outside education, employment or training.

13.5%

The estimated proportion of all UK young people aged 16–24.

928,000

The estimated number within the core 18–24 age group.

84%

The proportion surveyed for the Government’s interim report who said they wanted a job, education or training.

A Statistical Term Must Never Become a Personal Identity

The term “NEET” means not in education, employment or training.

It is a statistical classification. It should never become a label used to define the capability, character or future of a person.

A young person may be outside employment or education for many different reasons. They may have recently completed school, college or university. They may be waiting for an apprenticeship or employment opportunity. They may be managing a health condition, disability or neurodivergence. They may have caring responsibilities, transport limitations or difficult personal circumstances.

Some are actively searching for work. Others have become discouraged after months of applications, automated rejections and interviews that led nowhere.

These are not identical people with one shared problem.

They are individuals with different experiences, strengths, qualifications, barriers and ambitions.

Their current circumstances tell us where they are today. They do not tell us what they are capable of becoming tomorrow.

Young People Have Not Given Up on Work

The Government’s independent Young People and Work: Interim Report, updated on 13 July 2026, challenges the idea that an entire generation lacks ambition or a desire to participate.

In research conducted for the review, 84% of young people surveyed who were outside employment, education or training said they wanted to find a job, education or training.

The difficulty is not simply creating aspiration.

In many cases, the aspiration already exists.

The real challenge is converting that aspiration into confidence, direction, access, experience and opportunity.

Young people frequently describe applying for dozens of positions without meaningful feedback. They encounter entry-level vacancies that require previous experience, automated screening systems that reject them before a human conversation and recruitment processes that make it difficult to demonstrate personality, attitude or hidden capability.

Repeated rejection has a human effect.

A person who begins by asking, “Where can I find an opportunity?” may eventually begin asking, “Is there something wrong with me?”

There is an important difference between lacking ability and lacking an opportunity to demonstrate it.

Qualifications Do Not Always Create a Route Into Work

Education remains one of the strongest foundations a young person can have. Schools, colleges, universities, training providers and apprenticeship programmes play an essential role in developing knowledge, technical ability and recognised qualifications.

However, qualifications do not automatically produce a successful transition into employment.

The Government’s interim report found that, within the population of young people outside employment, education or training:

• Nearly 30% had achieved good GCSEs or equivalent qualifications.
• More than 21% had a Level 3 qualification.
• Approximately 15% had a degree.

This is a critical finding.

It means the challenge cannot be explained solely by low educational attainment.

A young person may have completed university and still lack professional experience. A college leaver may possess a BTEC, NVQ or vocational qualification but be unsure how to explain its value to an employer. A school leaver may have ability, energy and the right attitude but no previous workplace references.

There are several different transition points:

School leavers may need their first experience of work, greater confidence and help understanding the expectations of an employer.

College and further-education leavers may need help turning vocational knowledge and qualifications into a clear employment proposition.

Apprentices need employers willing and able to offer structured opportunities to earn, learn and develop.

University graduates may possess substantial academic knowledge but find themselves competing for roles that require experience they have not yet had the opportunity to gain.

Young people returning after unemployment or inactivity may need support to rebuild routine, confidence, communication and belief before taking their next step.

Education can help someone gain knowledge and qualifications.

Employability also requires the ability to recognise, communicate and demonstrate what that knowledge could mean inside a workplace.

The First Rung of the Employment Ladder Has Weakened

The nature of recruitment has changed.

A young person could once walk into a local business, speak to the owner or manager and create an immediate human impression. The employer could see their enthusiasm, communication, personality and willingness to learn.

Today, the first point of contact is often a recruitment portal, automated test, applicant-tracking system, recorded interview or algorithmic screening process.

Technology can make recruitment more efficient, but it can also remove the human conversation through which an inexperienced person might otherwise be given a chance.

The Young People and Work interim report describes entry-level roles as becoming less plentiful and more demanding. It also reports that apprenticeship starts for young people have declined by more than 40% over the longer term.

The first rung of the ladder has become harder to reach.

This creates a contradiction:

Young people are told that they need experience to secure employment, but they need an employer to give them an opportunity before they can gain that experience.

The result is not only lost income.

It can mean lost routine, confidence, independence, social connection, professional identity and belief.

Employers Are Part of the Challenge and Part of the Solution

The employment gap cannot be solved by focusing only on what young people must improve.

Employers operate in a difficult commercial environment. They must consider productivity, employment costs, supervision, performance, risk and the time required to induct and develop an inexperienced member of staff.

Larger employers may have specialist recruitment, learning and development, occupational health and human resources teams.

Smaller businesses often do not.

A small employer may genuinely want to give a young person an opportunity but feel unable to provide the additional induction, confidence-building or pastoral support that may sometimes be needed.

The safer appointment can appear to be the older or more experienced applicant.

The young person with potential but without a track record loses out.

That is why the bridge must work in both directions.

Young people need preparation, confidence, practical skills and greater visibility.

Employers need reassurance, support, appropriate incentives and access to young people who are better prepared to enter and contribute to the workplace.

The answer is not to criticise employers for being cautious.

It is to reduce the distance and perceived risk between the employer and the young person.

Confidence, Health and Participation Are Connected

Youth employment is not only an economic issue.

It is also deeply connected to confidence, identity, health, belonging and hope.

For some young people, anxiety, depression, disability, neurodivergence or another health condition may affect how they access education, recruitment or employment. Others may not have a diagnosed condition but may still struggle with low self-belief, communication, social confidence or fear of rejection.

Support must not begin with the assumption that a diagnosis or difficulty means a person cannot participate.

The better question is:

What can this person do, what support would help, and what could their next realistic step be?

Meaningful employment can provide income, but its value extends further.

It can create structure in the day, purpose in the week, social connection, professional development and a growing sense of independence.

The objective should not be to push people into any job at any cost.

It should be to help more young people move towards suitable, sustainable and meaningful participation.

Too Many Young People Are Out of Work and Out of Sight

Not every young person outside employment or education is receiving Universal Credit or connected to a Jobcentre, college, training provider or employment programme.

The interim report estimates that, during 2023/24, approximately 314,000 people aged 18–24 in England were neither in work nor education and were not personally receiving benefits.

This matters because many existing support systems begin with a known individual, an active claim, a referral or an existing relationship with an institution.

A young person outside those systems can become almost invisible.

They may not appear on a college register, employer payroll, training programme or Jobcentre caseload.

They are not necessarily doing nothing.

They may be applying independently, living with family, managing difficult circumstances, searching online, considering their options or gradually withdrawing after unsuccessful attempts to move forward.

A system cannot effectively support people it does not know how to find, understand or engage.

This is why community visibility, trusted local relationships, digital engagement, employer participation and human outreach are so important.

The System Is Fragmented

The journey from education into employment crosses several different systems:

• Schools and colleges
• Universities and further education
• Apprenticeships and skills provision
• Careers advice
• Employers and recruiters
• Health and wellbeing services
• Local authorities
• The Department for Work and Pensions
• Jobcentre Plus
• Benefits and welfare support
• Charities and community organisations
• Families and personal support networks

Each part may provide valuable work.

The problem is that young people do not experience these organisations as a single connected pathway.

They can be assessed by one organisation, referred to another and then expected to repeat their circumstances to a third. Responsibility can become dispersed, data can remain disconnected and no single organisation may retain ownership of the eventual outcome.

A qualification may be completed without a transition into employment.

A health intervention may finish without a route back into learning or work.

A benefit may provide financial protection without creating a developmental pathway.

A vacancy may be advertised without reaching the young people who could grow into it.

The gap between systems is where people can become lost.

Government Has Begun to Respond

The scale of the challenge has resulted in a range of government policies and employment measures.

The Get Britain Working White Paper established the Youth Guarantee, intended to improve access to education, training, apprenticeships and employment support for young people aged 18–21 in England.

Further measures have included the expansion of Youth Hubs, employment support through the Department for Work and Pensions, a Jobs Guarantee for eligible long-term unemployed young people and incentives intended to encourage employers to create opportunities for people aged 18–24.

Young people receiving Universal Credit may also be able to access additional employment, skills and apprenticeship support through the DWP Youth Guarantee Journey.

These interventions are important.

However, a government scheme only creates value when an eligible person understands it, trusts it, accesses it and is supported to participate successfully.

National policy must therefore connect with local communities, education providers, employers, families and the lived experience of young people themselves.

We Need a Bridge, Not Another Disconnected Programme

The evidence does not suggest that one organisation, one employer, one government department or one short-term initiative can solve this problem alone.

The transition into employment depends on several parties moving towards one another.

Young people must be supported to recognise their strengths, develop relevant capabilities and take personal responsibility for their next step.

Employers must be encouraged and supported to create genuine entry points.

Education and training must connect learning more directly with the expectations and realities of work.

Government services must reach people before short-term unemployment becomes prolonged detachment.

Health, welfare and employment support must focus not only on what a person cannot currently do, but also on what they could do with the right environment, adjustments and support.

Families, mentors and communities can help restore the belief that repeated rejection often removes.

The bridge must connect:

• Education with employment
• Qualifications with workplace value
• Skills with visibility
• Potential with experience
• Young people with employers
• Government support with human participation
• Uncertainty with a practical next step

This is the space in which I’M MORE is being built.

The I’M MORE Response

I’M MORE is a movement created to help people recognise that their present circumstances do not determine the limit of their future.

Our approach is built around three stages:

Discover

Recognise strengths, interests, experiences, abilities and potential that may have been overlooked or never properly articulated.

Discovery is not limited to academic qualifications.

It can include communication, creativity, practical ability, empathy, resilience, digital knowledge, leadership, problem-solving, caring responsibilities, lived experience and the willingness to learn.

Believe

Develop the confidence to see those abilities as valuable and communicate them to other people.

Repeated rejection can make a capable person question their value. Belief is not empty motivation. It is built through evidence, encouragement, preparation, new experiences and achievable progress.

Become

Turn potential into visible action.

That may include developing skills, improving communication, creating a CV or Video CV, attending an event, gaining work experience, meeting employers, entering training, applying for an apprenticeship or taking the next step into employment.

Transformation rarely follows a perfectly straight line.

A person can change direction, rebuild after adversity, discover new capability and create a future that was not visible from where they began.

Beginning in Chelmsford and Building Across Essex

I’M MORE is beginning its practical work in Chelmsford, creating a local bridge between young people, businesses, employment support, education, skills and opportunity.

Our intention is not to duplicate the work of the Department for Work and Pensions, Jobcentre Plus, local authorities, colleges, universities, apprenticeship providers or existing employment organisations.

It is to help connect the landscape.

Through I’M MORE events, The Room, The Stage, Video CV development, practical learning, mentoring, employer engagement and the Sponsor a Desk initiative, we aim to help people become more confident, capable, visible and prepared for their next opportunity.

The initial focus includes young people aged 16–24, with particular emphasis on the transition into adulthood and employment from the age of 18.

As the movement develops, its wider message remains relevant at every stage of life:

Your past can inform you without imprisoning you.

Your current circumstances are a starting point.

You are more than a statistic, a rejection, a qualification, a diagnosis, an employment status or somebody else’s expectation.

Founded on 35 Years of Business and Human Experience

I’M MORE was founded by Bradley Chapman, an entrepreneur, business strategist, coach and mentor with more than 35 years of experience working with people, businesses and organisations.

Bradley has trained, coached and mentored more than 20,000 people during his career. His experience ranges from startups and growing businesses to executive leaders, established brands, media organisations and high-profile individuals.

Across the companies and individuals he has advised, Bradley estimates that his work has contributed to approximately £6 billion in combined sales, company valuations and business exits.

His career has included work with and around people and organisations connected with David Gold, Jacqueline Gold, the BBC, Sky, Dragons’ Den, the Spice Girls and George Michael, as well as the creation of documentary film productions distributed through Amazon.

But I’M MORE was not created simply from commercial experience.

It was also shaped by adversity, rebuilding and the understanding that people can possess capability long before they possess confidence—or before the world provides them with an opportunity to demonstrate it.

Bradley understands the employer’s perspective, the commercial realities facing businesses and the human journey required for a person to become ready to be seen.

That experience sits behind the I’M MORE mission:

More than business growth. Helping people realise what is possible.

What Must Happen Next

The evidence should concern all of us.

Government has a role.

Schools, colleges, universities and training organisations have a role.

Employers have a role.

Parents and families have a role.

Communities and support organisations have a role.

Young people themselves also have a role in taking responsibility for the opportunities, support and development made available to them.

But responsibility must be matched by access.

Expectation must be matched by opportunity.

Training must be matched by real routes into work.

Qualifications must be matched by visibility and experience.

Employer caution must be matched by support.

And national policy must become meaningful local participation.

We cannot allow one million individual futures to become background data.

We must help more young people discover what they can offer, believe that progress is possible and become visible to the people and opportunities that can change their future.

They are not a lost generation.

They are a generation waiting for a better bridge.

Discover. Believe. Become.

Take the Next Step

Explore The Mission
Discover why I’M MORE exists and the change we are working to create.

Experience The Shift
Understand the journey from hidden potential to confidence, capability and visibility.

Attend an I’M MORE Event
Take part in a practical Discover. Believe. Become. experience.

Explore The Room
Learn, develop skills and access a supportive environment.

Become Visible Through The Stage
Develop your profile, share your abilities and connect with opportunity.

Support the Movement
Employers, sponsors, funders and community partners can help create practical pathways for young people.

Read The Voice
Follow the latest evidence, employment news, government policy and I’M MORE commentary.

Sources and Evidence

The principal sources used for this page are:

Office for National Statistics: Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training, UK—May 2026

Department for Work and Pensions: Young People and Work—Interim Report

Government: Get Britain Working White Paper

Department for Work and Pensions: Help to Find Work for Universal Credit Claimants Aged 16–24

Evidence note: The ONS figures used on this page are UK estimates based on the Labour Force Survey and are classified as official statistics in development. The ONS recommends caution when interpreting short-term quarterly movements. The statistics do not represent an Essex-specific rate.

Editorial note: This page will be reviewed when new ONS data or major government reports on young people and employment are published.