Participation in education, training and employment age 16 to 21
Calendar year 2025

Description of the data sets included in this release, including information on data sources, coverage, quality and any data conventions used.

Description

This document describes the data included in the ‘Participation in education, training and employment age 16-21 accredited official statistics release’s underlying data. This data is released under the terms of the Open Government License (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/) and is intended to meet at least three stars for Open Data (https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/improving-the-transparency-and-accountability-of-government-and-its-services/supporting-pages/releasing-data-in-open-formats).

The release includes estimates from the labour force survey (LFS) on proportions of the population in England Not in education, employment and training (NEET). Estimates from the LFS are badged as ‘official statistics in development’ due to issues with response rates in recent years. The release also includes age 19-21 participation in education and apprenticeship estimates for the first time and these are also badged as ‘official statistics in development’ in order to assess user feedback and explore enhancements to the methodology.

The underlying data files include national participation estimates from DfE administrative data for 16-21 year olds in England and are broken down by (academic) age, sex, institution type, whether full-time (FT) or part-time (PT), and by highest study aim. Estimates of proportions of the population not in education, employment or training (NEET), not in education and training (NET) and proportions in wider training not captured by administrative data and employment are included from the LFS.  Also included are participation estimates for those in education and apprenticeships by local authority and characteristics for those educated in the state funded sector at age 15.

The methodology (https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/participation-in-education-training-and-employment-age-16-to-21  ) accompanying the release should be referenced alongside this data. It provides information on the data sources, their coverage and quality as well as explaining methodology used in producing the data.

Coverage

The data in this publication covers young people who reside in England, and is based on their academic age, that is their age at the start of the academic year, 31st August. The publication includes data on individual ages between 16 and 21 as well as for combined age groups, 16-17, 16-18, 16-21 and 18-21.

File formats and conventions

The files are in comma separated values format (.csv) with UTF-8 encoding.

The underlying data files contain unrounded figures as estimated from the administrative and survey data as outlined in the accompanying methodology (https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/participation-in-education-training-and-employment-age-16-to-21 )  (https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/participation-in-education-and-training-and-employment-methodology).

Some suppression has been applied to the state funded cohort data by local authority where the population category is less than 5.

Symbols used in the underlying data are as follows:

Symbol  |  Meaning
z       |  When an observation is not applicable
c       |  Where a cohort population is less than 5

Data files

Headlines participation and NEET

Filename: Headlines_with_LFS_0406.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2015 to 2025
Content summary: Proportion of the national population participating in education, training and employment, NEET and NET by age and sex.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name     |  Variable description
----------------  |  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
age               |  Academic age - Age as at 31st August (start of the academic year)
ci_plusminus      |  Confidence interval (95%) for the percentage of the population
measure           |  Activity - Main participation type (education and apprenticeships/wider training/employment/not in education or training (NET)/ not in education, employment or training (NEET))
percent           |  Percent of population
percent_lower_ci  |  Lower bound percent
percent_upper_ci  |  Upper bound percent
population        |  Population
sex               |  Sex

Footnotes:

1. HE participation estimates from administrative data (HESA) are not yet available for 2025. No overall participation estimates are shown for the latest year for age 18+ as proportions would be misleading due to this missing HE data.
2. All estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) should be viewed alongside associated 95% confidence intervals (https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/glossary#confidence-intervals) as shown in the underlying data. LFS data has been reweighted from January 2019 onwards which has led to a discontinuity in the timeseries meaning comparisons prior to this point should be viewed with some caution.
3. Estimates of NEET, NET, NET in employment and wider training are sourced from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Due to low response rates in recent years, which has led to increased sampling variability, sex breakdowns for single ages are not provided.


Provider and highest qualification aim (England population)

Filename: Participation_insts_and_quals_16_21_allinsts_040626.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2015 to 2025
Content summary: Number and proportion of the national population participating in education or apprenticeships by age, sex, provider type and highest qualification aim.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name           |  Variable description
----------------------  |  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
age                     |  Academic age - Age as at 31st August (start of the academic year)
mode_of_study           |  Full or part-time
number                  |  Number
participation_measure   |  Participation measure - To view provider type and highest qualification aims select 'Education'. To view apprenticeship levels select 'Apprenticeships'.
percent                 |  Percent of population
population              |  Population
provider_type           |  Provider type
qualification_sublevel  |  Highest qualification aim
sex                     |  Sex

Footnotes:

1. HE participation estimates from administrative data (HESA) are not yet available for 2025. No overall participation estimates are shown for the latest year for age 18+ as proportions would be misleading due to this missing HE data.
2. Specialist colleges in this category are those specialising in fields such as agriculture, art and technology. This grouping does not mean colleges focusing on learners with special educational needs.
3. The apprenticeship framework is broken down into specific levels: Intermediate (Level 2): equivalent to: 5 GCSE passes (Grades 9–4 or A*–C), Advanced (Level 3): equivalent to: 2 A Level passes, or a Level 3 Diploma, Higher (Levels 4 and 5): equivalent to: Foundation degree, Higher National Certificate (HNC), Higher National Diploma (HND), Degree (Levels 6 and 7): equivalent to: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.
4. 'Other' provider types are primarily private providers, alongside a limited number of smaller organisations such as institutions funded by other government departments.


Participation by characteristics ages 16-21 (educated in England state-sector at 15)

Filename: state_participation_chars_inst_quals_0406.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2015 to 2025
Content summary: Number and proportion of the state funded population at age 15 participating in education or apprenticeships at 16-21 by age, characteristics, provider type and highest qualification aim.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name           |  Variable description
----------------------  |  -----------------------------------------------------------------
age                     |  Academic age - Age as at 31st August (start of the academic year)
breakdown               |  Characteristic
number                  |  Number
participation_measure   |  Participation measure
percent                 |  Percent of population
population              |  Population
provider_type           |  Provider type
qualification_sublevel  |  Highest qualification aim

Footnotes:

1. HE participation estimates from administrative data (HESA) are not yet available for 2025. No overall participation estimates are shown for the latest year for age 18+ as proportions would be misleading due to this missing HE data.
2. Participation gaps refer to the difference in between one characteristic group and another. 1) Special Educational Need (SEN) gap: between those with and without SEN, with non-SEN individuals typically having higher participation; 2) Free School Meal (FSM) gap: between those eligible and not eligible for FSM, with those not eligible for FSM typically having higher participation; 3) Disadvantage gap: between those deemed disadvantaged (see methodology) and those not disadvantaged, with those not disadvantaged typically having higher participation; 4) Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) gap: between the 25% most deprived and the 25% least deprived, with the 25% least deprived typically having higher participation; 5) Gap between males and females, with females typically having higher participation; 6) Level 2 by age 15 gap: between those who achieved level 2 by age 15 and those who hadn't, with those achieving typically having higher participation; 7) Level 2 in English and maths by age 15 gap: between those who achieved level 2 in English language and maths by age 15 and those who hadn't, with those achieving typically having higher participation.
3. Specific Learning Difficulties: Conditions that affect specific aspects of learning, such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, and dyscalculia. Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD): Broad challenges with basic literacy, numeracy, and understanding concepts. Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) categorises difficulties that hinder a child's well-being, relationships, and ability to engage in learning. Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN): Challenges in communicating effectively with others or processing language. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Conditions that affect how a child interacts socially, communicates, and perceives the world.
4. Specialist colleges in this category are those specialising in fields such as agriculture, art and technology. This grouping does not mean colleges focusing on learners with special educational needs.
5. The apprenticeship framework is broken down into specific levels: Intermediate (Level 2): equivalent to: 5 GCSE passes (Grades 9–4 or A*–C), Advanced (Level 3): equivalent to: 2 A Level passes, or a Level 3 Diploma, Higher (Levels 4 and 5): equivalent to: Foundation degree, Higher National Certificate (HNC), Higher National Diploma (HND), Degree (Levels 6 and 7): equivalent to: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.
6. 'Other' provider types are primarily private providers, alongside a limited number of smaller organisations such as institutions funded by other government departments.


Participation by local authority ages 16-21 (educated in England state-sector at 15)

Filename: state_participation_LA_inst_quals_0406.csv
Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
Time period: 2015 to 2025
Content summary: Number and proportion of the state funded population at age 15 participating in education or apprenticeships at ages 16-21 by local authority, region, age, provider type and highest qualification aim.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name           |  Variable description
----------------------  |  -----------------------------------------------------------------
age                     |  Academic age - Age as at 31st August (start of the academic year)
number                  |  Number
participation_measure   |  Participation measure
percent                 |  Percent of population
population              |  Population
provider_type           |  Provider type
qualification_sublevel  |  Highest qualification aim

Footnotes:

1. HE participation estimates from administrative data (HESA) are not yet available for 2025. No overall participation estimates are shown for the latest year for age 18+ as proportions would be misleading due to this missing HE data.
2. Some local authority data is not shown where boundaries have changed for some of the cohort. For example, in 2024 at ages 16-21, as the local authority is based on where the young person was educated at age 15, those age 21 would have their LA based on boundaries as at 2018 and 16 year olds as as at 2023.
3. The apprenticeship framework is broken down into specific levels: Intermediate (Level 2): equivalent to: 5 GCSE passes (Grades 9–4 or A*–C), Advanced (Level 3): equivalent to: 2 A Level passes, or a Level 3 Diploma, Higher (Levels 4 and 5): equivalent to: Foundation degree, Higher National Certificate (HNC), Higher National Diploma (HND), Degree (Levels 6 and 7): equivalent to: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.
4. 'Other' provider types are primarily private providers, alongside a limited number of smaller organisations such as institutions funded by other government departments.


Participation by local authority  and characteristics ages 16-21 (educated in England state-sector at 15)

Filename: state_participation_LA_chars_0406.csv
Geographic levels: Local authority; National; Regional
Time period: 2015 to 2025
Content summary: Number and proportion of the state funded population at age 15 participating in education or apprenticeships at ages 16-21 by local authority, region, age and characteristics (sex, FSM, SEND, disadvantage, prior attainment, deprivation, ethnicity).

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name          |  Variable description
---------------------  |  -----------------------------------------------------------------
age                    |  Academic age - Age as at 31st August (start of the academic year)
breakdown              |  Characteristic
number                 |  Number
participation_measure  |  Participation measure
percent                |  Percent of population
population             |  Population

Footnotes:

1. Some local authority data is not shown where boundaries have changed for some of the cohort. For example, in 2024 at ages 16-21, as the local authority is based on where the young person was educated at age 15, those age 21 would have their LA based on boundaries as at 2018 and 16 year olds as as at 2023.


National and state-sector estimates

Filename: participation_national_state.csv
Geographic levels: National
Time period: 2015 to 2025
Content summary: Participation in education and apprenticeship at ages 16-21, figures for both national and state funded cohort at age 15.

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable name        |  Variable description
-------------------  |  -----------------------------------------------------------------
age                  |  Academic age - Age as at 31st August (start of the academic year)
number_national      |  Number of national population (England) participating
number_state         |  Number of state-funded population at age 15 participating
percent_national     |  Percent of national population (England) participating
percent_state        |  Percent of state-funded population at age 15  participating
population_national  |  National population (England)
population_state     |  State-funded population at age 15
