DETERMINED TO SUCCEED - A REVIEW OF ENTERPRISE IN EDUCATION: EVIDENCE REPORT
ANNEXE 5 PARTICIPATION OF 16-19 YEAR OLDS: COMPARISON WITH OTHER OECD COUNTRIES
PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION
Scottish and UK figures are lower than most other OECD countries in participation of young people in full or part time post-compulsory education. For 16-19 year olds in Scotland participation is about 68% ( www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00096-00.asp ).
The OECD figures include 15 to 19 year olds; for comparative purposes, for Scotland we would estimate 15-19 participation to be about 73%. The overall UK figure is given as 72.5%. Only 3 countries out of 28 listed in the OECD figures have lower participation than UK:
Italy | 70.7% |
Mexico | 39.3% |
Turkey | 30.5% |
Other examples are:
Belgium | 90.6% |
Norway | 86.1% |
Denmark | 80.4% |
USA | 78.1%. |
(OECD, 2001b, p134)
NEET
Some young people not in education are in employment but the proportion of the age group in Scotland and UK not in education, employment or training (NEET) is also high. The Scottish Social Justice Report uses Labour Force Survey figures for 16-19 year olds. The estimated figure is 33,000 or between 13% and 14% of the age group. This is not a negative experience for all, but evidence suggests that for the majority it is ( www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/social/sjm-13.asp ).
OECD figures again include 15 year olds, so for comparative purposes we estimate that in Scotland 11% of the 15 to 19 age group are NEET. In OECD figures the UK as a whole is given as 10%. Only two countries have higher figures:
Other examples are:
Belgium | 7% |
Denmark | 3.4% |
USA | 7.3%. |
(OECD, 2001b, p287)