According to a new report from the Local Government Association, too many teenagers in England are dropping out of school or college or failing to pass their courses due to poor careers advice, which costs the country over £800m a year.
The LGA commissioned the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion to analyse the latest figures which were for the year 2012-13.
Latest figures show 178,100 16 to 18-year-olds failed to complete post-16 qualifications, including A-levels, apprenticeships and further education courses and are at risk of becoming not in employment, education or training (NEET).
Cllr David Simmonds, Chairman of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Councils want every young person to achieve their full potential but too many are still dropping out of post-16 education and training or not achieving a passing grade.
“Our analysis lays bare the substantial financial cost of this but the human cost is even greater with youngsters left struggling with uncertainty, a sense of failure and facing tough decisions about what to do next.
“Councils are having success in helping young people that do drop-out back into learning but fear a failure to reform the centralised ‘bums on seats’ approach to funding further education could leave too many teenagers at risk of dropping out or without the skills needed to get a job. Local councils, colleges, schools and employers know how to best help their young people and should have devolved funding and powers to work together to give young people the best chance of building careers and taking jobs that exist locally.”
