§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what information he has about the school educational attainment of unemployed school leavers.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkI have been asked to reply.
Provisional results of the 1983 labour force survey indicate that in Great Britain in the second quarter of 1983 there were about 490,000 unemployed people aged 16 or over who had never had a job since leaving full-time education. Analysis by highest qualification indicates that about 50 per cent. of these had no qualifications; 18 per cent. had CSE (below grade 1) or equivalent, 23 per cent had 'O' levels or equivalent and 10 per cent. had 'A' levels or equivalent or higher.