University graduates just as likely to be unemployed as school leavers with one GCSE

The most striking revelation in the ONS’s Characteristics of Young Unemployed People survey is the fact that the proportion of joblessness is the same among 16-year-olds with one GCSE as it is among 21-year-olds with a university education.

As well as showing that around a quarter of people in each of these groups are unemployed, the ONS found that a fifth of 18-year-olds who left full-time education with one A-level are unemployed.

The figures did show, however, that people with a degree or A-levels are more likely to get a job as they get older.

The ONS found that unemployment among people with only GCSEs rises to almost 27 per cent for 18-year-olds before falling to 13 per cent among 24-year-olds.

However for people with a degree, the 25 per cent unemployment rate when they are 21 falls to 5 per cent when they hit 24.

Speaking about youth unemployment earlier this week Mr Clegg said: “Sitting at home with nothing to do when you’re so young can knock the stuffing out of you for years. We urgently need to step up efforts to ensure some of our most troubled teenagers have the skills, confidence and opportunities to succeed.”

“It is a tragedy for the young people involved – a ticking time bomb for the economy and our society as a whole.”

His comments came as the Government announced the launch of a fund worth £126 million to help jobless young people find employment.

The ONS’s figures showed that while youth unemployment in the UK is high, it is less than half the level in Spain and just a little over the EU average.