Centre for Cities: More than a third of England’s NEETs live in just nine cities

Wednesday, 7 October 2026 00:01

Analysis of 2021 Census data suggests over a third of NEETs are in England's nine largest cities, including 45,000 in Birmingham enough to fill Villa Park. Mayors need greater devolved power over skills, adult learning and employment support to tackle local obstacles to work and training. Cities including Doncaster and Bradford have youth NEET rates at least twice as high as others such as Nottingham and Bristol. More than half (54 per cent),...Request free trial

Analysis of 2021 Census data suggests over a third of NEETs are in England's nine largest cities, including 45,000 in Birmingham enough to fill Villa Park.
Mayors need greater devolved power over skills, adult learning and employment support to tackle local obstacles to work and training.
Cities including Doncaster and Bradford have youth NEET rates at least twice as high as others such as Nottingham and Bristol.

More than half (54 per cent), or around 381,000, of England's NEET young people live in urban areas, according to new analysis published today (Wednesday) by Centre for Cities. More than a third (36 per cent) are concentrated in the nine largest cities in England.

The number of 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) is described by the Milburn Review as an urgent national crisis. New Centre for Cities analysis of 2021 Census data shows the scale of the challenge facing England's urban areas, which contain more than half of the country's NEET young people.

It also reveals stark differences between places, with young people in some cities and large towns more than three times as likely to be NEET as those in others.

In absolute terms, London has the largest number of NEETs, an estimated 117,100 or one in six of all NEETs in England (16.7 per cent).

Birmingham has 45,000 NEETs the largest number anywhere outside of London, and enough to fill Villa Park while Manchester ranks third, with 37,700 NEETs.

Centre for Cities says the Government's response to the Milburn Review should focus on strengthening underperforming local economies and progressing skills and employment devolution to mayors.

Blackpool, where 21% of young people are not in education, employment or training, has the highest NEET rate across urban England. Doncaster (17 per cent), Bradford (17 per cent), Middlesbrough (17 per cent) and Barnsley (17 per cent) also rank in the five cities with the highest NEET rates.

York has the lowest share of NEET young people at just six per cent. York, Nottingham (eight per cent), Bristol (nine per cent), Brighton (nine per cent) and Portsmouth (nine per cent) are the five cities with the lowest rates, well below England's average of 13 per cent.

Rob Johnson, Senior Analyst at Centre for Cities, said:

Getting young people into work or training is a national challenge that will be won or lost in England's cities.

In places like Birmingham, the scale of the problem is striking, with 45,000 out of education or training. In other places like Blackpool, the actual number is small, but the proportion of young people affected is very high. This shows there can't be a single national solution.

Stronger local economies are essential. Interventions will only get us so far if areas lack jobs or training places. Mayors need the powers to tackle the barriers that young people face, whether that's skills, training, or the ability to actually get to jobs and courses from where they live.

The forthcoming White Paper is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix a system that is not working. Mayors should be given joined-up control over 16-19 vocational education, adult learning and employment support.

ENDS

NOTES

Centre for Cities is the leading independent think tank dedicated to improving the economies of the UK's largest cities and towns. It is a charity that works with local authorities, business and Whitehall to develop and implement policy that supports the performance of urban economies. It does this through impartial research and knowledge exchange. For more information, visit https://www.centreforcities.org/about/
Data sources and method: For this analysis, Centre for Cities defines cities and towns' boundaries by their primary urban area' a measure of their built-up area' rather than the local authority boundary. England's nine largest cities by primary urban area' are London, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, Leeds, Bristol, Nottingham and Liverpool. ONS data on NEETs is reported at Upper Tier Local Authorities, meaning no local estimates are possible for the following cities: Aldershot, Basildon, Burnley, Cambridge, Crawley, Exeter, Gloucester, Hull, Ipswich, Mansfield, Norwich, Oxford, Preston, & Worthing.
For more on Centre for Cities analysis of devolved skills policy and employment support services, see Rewiring skills & employment support: How devolution can untangle the system:
https://www.centreforcities.org/data/rewiring-skills-employment-support-how-devolution-can-untangle-the-system/

TABLE: Numbers and rates of 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) in 41 cities and towns in England

Rank	City or town	NEETs	Rate
1/41	London	117,095	13.1%
2/41	Birmingham	44,995	15.9%
3/41	Manchester	37,720	13.6%
4/41	Newcastle	12,090	12.4%
5/41	Sheffield	11,980	12.1%
6/41	Leeds	10,220	9.8%
7/41	Liverpool	10,085	12.3%
8/41	Bradford	9,910	17.4%
9/41	Middlesbrough	7,525</>	17.3%
10/41	Leicester	6,210	11.8%
11/41	Huddersfield	5,970	13.5%
12/41	Nottingham	5,150	8.3%
13/41	Coventry	5,000	10.6%
14/41	Wakefield	4,805	15.7%
15/41	Doncaster	4,725	17.4%
16/41	Northampton	4,495	11.2%
17/41	Sunderland	4,255	16.7%
18/41	Birkenhead	4,235	15.7%
19/41	Wigan	4,220	14.4%
20/41	Bournemouth	4,215	10.2%
21/41	Chatham	4,145	15.3%
22/41	Stoke	4,100	15.0%
23/41	Derby	4,055	14.2%
24/41	Luton	3,825	15.0%
25/41	Barnsley	3,675	16.9%
26/41	Brighton	3,615	9.0%
27/41	Plymouth	3,560	11.0%
28/41	Southampton	3,505	9.6%
29/41	Milton Keynes	3,480	13.3%
30/41	Reading	3,475	9.5%
31/41	Peterborough	3,290	16.4%
32/41	Telford	2,780	15.1%
33/41	Portsmouth	2,765	9.4%
34/41	Swindon	2,735	13.1%
35/41	Blackpool	2,660	21.2%
36/41	Bristol	2,630	8.7%
37/41	Blackburn	2,590	15.5%
38/41	Southend	2,575	16.0%
39/41	Warrington	2,300	12.3%
40/41	Slough	2,170	14.1%
41/41	York	1,820	5.9%
	All cities*	380,700	13.1%
	All England	700,100	12.6%

Source: Geographical variation in the prevalence of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), England, ONS 2026. Centre for Cities calculations.

*Notes: Based on 2021 Census. Data reported at Upper Tier Local Authorities, meaning no local estimates are possible for the following cities: Aldershot, Basildon, Burnley, Cambridge, Crawley, Exeter, Gloucester, Hull, Ipswich, Mansfield, Norwich, Oxford, Preston, & Worthing.