The Hidden NEET Crisis: Thousands of Young People Are Disappearing From Education – But the System Still Counts Them

Posted on: 14 September 2026 | 10 min

Are the Official NEET Figures Only Telling Us Part of the Story?

For months, Genuine Futures CIC has been warning that the headline NEET figures may not tell the whole story.

Now there is new evidence that should concern parents, colleges, councils, employers and government.

The Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, has warned that there could be tens of thousands more teenagers effectively disengaged from education than official NEET statistics suggest.

According to analysis reported by the BBC, around 42,000 16 and 17-year-olds are officially enrolled at college but are estimated to be missing at least half of their sessions.

More than half — 52.2% — are estimated to be persistently absent when the definition used in schools, missing 10% or more sessions, is applied.

Meanwhile, the Department for Education estimates around 57,000 16 and 17-year-olds are officially not in education, employment or training.

This raises an uncomfortable question:

How many young people are disappearing from education while the system still records them as being engaged?

Read the original BBC News report⁠.

What Is a “Hidden NEET”?

NEET means not in education, employment or training.

But an official category cannot always describe what is actually happening in a young person’s life.

A teenager might technically be enrolled at college.

On a spreadsheet, they appear to be participating in education.

But what if they are barely attending?

What if they haven’t attended properly for weeks?

What if they have effectively dropped out but remain on a college register?

What if they are sitting at home while their parents desperately try to work out what happens next?

The Children’s Commissioner describes severely absent young people who remain enrolled as “hidden” NEETs.

The Milburn Review has used “hidden NEET” differently, referring to young people who are NEET but aren’t claiming benefits and can therefore be particularly difficult to reach.

The definitions are different, but they expose the same fundamental problem:

Young people can become disconnected from opportunity without being immediately visible to the systems designed to support them.

We Are Seeing This at Genuine Futures

This isn’t simply something we read about in national statistics.

Parents contact Genuine Futures because their children have stopped attending or dropped out of college.

A young person may have started September with optimism.

A course was chosen.

A college place was secured.

Everyone assumed they were progressing.

Then attendance started slipping.

One day became several days.

Several days became weeks.

Routine disappears.

Confidence falls.

Eventually, a young person can be spending more time at home than in education.

Their parents are left asking:

What happens now?

We’ve produced a practical guide specifically for families facing this situation: My 16–18-Year-Old Isn’t in Education, Employment or Training – What Can I Do?⁠

The critical point is this:

That is where prevention should begin.

We shouldn’t wait until months later when the young person officially becomes another NEET statistic.

“We Need to Stop Waiting for Young People to Disappear”

Sam Smith, Founder and Co-Director of Genuine Futures CIC, said:

“We have been warning that the official NEET figures may only tell part of the story. This new evidence suggests those concerns need to be taken seriously.”

“We get referrals directly from parents whose children have dropped out of college or stopped attending. By the time families are searching for organisations like ours, the warning signs have often been there for weeks or months.”

“A young person shouldn’t have to completely disappear from education before somebody asks why they stopped turning up.”

The question shouldn’t simply be:

Is this young person officially NEET?

It should be:

Is this young person genuinely engaged in education, employment, training or a meaningful pathway towards their future?

Those are very different questions.

42,000 Young People Should Be an Early-Warning Alarm

We need to be responsible with these statistics.

The estimated 42,000 severely absent 16 and 17-year-olds should not simply be added to the wider national NEET total. They measure different populations and circumstances.

But that doesn’t make the finding any less concerning.

It tells us something extremely important:

Severe absence can be an early-warning sign of disengagement.

When a young person’s attendance starts collapsing, we should be asking:

What is happening?

Are they struggling with their mental health?

Is transport unaffordable?

Are they working because they or their family need the money?

Is the course wrong for them?

Have they lost confidence?

Are their additional needs being met?

Are they struggling at home?

Have they stopped believing education will lead anywhere?

Would a practical or vocational pathway engage them differently?

Attendance isn’t simply a number.

Sometimes it is an early-warning signal telling us something isn’t working.

Bolton College Highlights the Reality

This national story has a particularly important connection to Bolton.

The BBC spoke to Liam Sloan, Principal of Bolton College, who highlighted mental health challenges and part-time employment among the reasons some students struggle with attendance.

He described the economic reality facing some young people: an immediate paid shift can feel more important than a qualification that may deliver benefits months into the future.

That deserves serious attention.

Bolton College has introduced full-time positive engagement officers to greet students and contact those who don’t show up.

That kind of early engagement matters.

But colleges cannot solve this challenge alone.

Have Schools and Colleges Contributed to the NEET Crisis?

This is a question Genuine Futures has already been prepared to ask.

Not because teachers and lecturers don’t care.

And not because colleges alone created the problem.

But because we need to examine the whole system surrounding a young person’s transition into adulthood.

Our earlier investigation, Have Schools and Colleges Contributed to the NEET Crisis?⁠, examines how education, employment, health, housing, welfare, government and communities all form part of the picture.

Blaming individual teachers or colleges will achieve little.

Changing the system around young people might.

The NEET Crisis Is Already Serious

We have previously written about more than one million young people being NEET and the warnings surrounding Britain’s youth opportunity crisis⁠.

The Milburn Review has warned that Britain risks a “lost generation” unless the trajectory changes.

Now the Children’s Commissioner has highlighted another population: teenagers who may technically remain in education but whose attendance suggests significant disengagement.

This means we need to look beyond the headline NEET number.

Official statistics matter.

But so does what happens before somebody enters the statistic.

Latest national figures can be checked through the Office for National Statistics NEET data⁠ and Department for Education NEET statistics⁠.

We Need to Ask What Happens BEFORE NEET

This could be the most important question of all:

What happens before a young person becomes NEET?

There is usually a journey.

Persistent absence.

Suspension.

Exclusion.

Poor mental health.

A college course that isn’t working.

Unmet additional needs.

Family difficulties.

Transport barriers.

Financial pressure.

A lack of confidence.

Repeated rejection.

No meaningful work experience.

A young person slowly withdrawing.

The warning signs can appear long before somebody officially becomes NEET.

That creates an opportunity for prevention.

Data Isn’t Prevention Unless Somebody Acts on It

The Children’s Commissioner has called for attendance data for 16 and 17-year-olds to be collected and targets established.

The Department for Education has said it intends to improve college attendance tracking and ultimately collect that data centrally.

That could be important progress.

But collecting another dataset isn’t enough.

Data isn’t prevention unless somebody acts on it.

Imagine a local early-warning pathway connecting:

Schools → Colleges → Families → Local Authorities → VCSE Organisations → Employers → Opportunities

When sustained disengagement is identified, support begins.

Not six months later.

Not after somebody becomes long-term unemployed.

Not when their mental health reaches crisis.

Not when they become homeless.

Not when they enter the criminal justice system.

Early.

From Crisis Intervention to Prevention and Opportunity

This is the change Genuine Futures continues to advocate for.

We spend enormous amounts responding to consequences.

We need to become much better at responding to warning signs.

That means moving from:

Absence → Curiosity

Disengagement → Outreach

Dropout → Rapid Support

NEET → Opportunity

Crisis Intervention → Prevention

And young people themselves must be involved in designing those solutions.

Because attendance data can tell us who isn’t there.

Only listening can tell us why.

Young People Need a Connected Network of Opportunity

Finding the young person is only half of the challenge.

What are we offering them when we find them?

Schools and colleges cannot do everything.

Neither can councils.

Neither can charities or social enterprises.

Neither can employers.

But together we can create something much stronger.

Young people need access to:

meaningful work experience
employers and workplaces
enterprise and self-employment
vocational and trade opportunities
trusted adults and mentors
mental health and wellbeing support
community organisations
appropriate alternative provision
careers guidance connected to real opportunities
routes back into education when the first option hasn’t worked.

This requires a connected network of opportunity, rather than expecting a young person who is already disengaged to navigate disconnected services themselves.

What Does Prevention Look Like in Practice?

At Genuine Futures, prevention isn’t simply something we write about.

We’re trying to build practical alternatives.

Through Boss Your Future, youth enterprise, We Shine Any Car, Clean Futures, employer engagement, work experience and community partnerships, young people can experience responsibility and develop skills, confidence and connections.

For some young people, another classroom-based intervention isn’t the first answer.

They need to experience success.

They need somebody to recognise their strengths.

They need somewhere they belong.

They need employers prepared to open doors.

And they need a reason to believe there is something worth turning up for.

Our work through Boss Your Future and practical opportunities across Bolton⁠ demonstrates what this can look like.

We are also developing a broader approach to NEET support in Bolton through enterprise and community opportunity⁠.

A Message to Parents: Don’t Wait Until Crisis

If your son or daughter is 15–24 and not in education, employment or training, has stopped attending college, dropped out, or is beginning to become disconnected, please don’t assume you have to wait until the situation gets worse before asking for help.

Start with a conversation.

For practical information, read our guide for parents and carers of 16–18-year-olds who aren’t in education, employment or training⁠.

You can also explore NEET support and opportunities for young people aged 15–24 in Bolton⁠.

You don’t need to wait until everything has fallen apart.

The Bigger Question

The Children’s Commissioner’s findings leave us with a question that cannot be answered by another spreadsheet:

How many young people do we have to lose before we start acting on the warning signs?

A young person can be enrolled and still be disengaged.

They can appear on somebody’s database and still feel completely disconnected.

They can technically belong to a service while having no meaningful connection to opportunity.

We need to identify young people earlier.

Listen earlier.

Support earlier.

Create opportunities earlier.

Because the objective shouldn’t simply be reducing a NEET statistic.

It should be ensuring every young person has somewhere to go, someone who believes in them and a genuine pathway towards their future.

Prevention before crisis.

Genuine Futures CIC — Bridging the gap to opportunity.

Get Support or Work With Genuine Futures

Parents and young people: If a young person aged 15–24 is not in education, employment or training, has left college or is struggling to find their next step, start a conversation with us.

Schools and colleges: Work with us on early intervention, practical learning, enterprise, work experience and progression pathways.

Employers: Help create the first opportunity through workplace visits, mentoring, work experience, employment, enterprise or by commissioning our youth-led social enterprises.

Local authorities, commissioners and funders: Let’s develop pathways that identify disengagement earlier and connect young people to meaningful opportunities before they reach crisis.

Contact and learn more about Genuine Futures CIC⁠

Sources & Further Reading

BBC News – Hidden NEETs and college attendance⁠

Children’s Commissioner for England⁠

Office for National Statistics – Young people not in education, employment or training⁠

Department for Education – NEET statistics⁠

Futures That Shine Charter