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Meeting on Alan Milburn’s review of NEET - Wednesday 4th March 2026 4-5.30pm

Speakers
Juliet Campbell MP (Chair)
Helen Goodsall, Policy & Helpline Manager, ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½  
Baz Ramaiah, Policy & Research Director, Youth Unemployment UK
Matthew Upton, Alan Milburn review team

This meeting spoke to the growing risk of young people with dyslexia becoming Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) Although there is no national data specifically on dyslexia and NEET outcomes, existing indicators are concerning.

Department for Education destination data shows a 7% gap in sustained post-16 education, employment, or training outcomes between young people with no SEN and those whose primary need is recorded as a specific learning difficulty. 

At GCSE level, only 40% of pupils with dyslexia achieved a pass in English and maths in 2023/24, compared with 72% of pupils without SEN, an attainment gap of over 30 percentage points. Given the strong link between low attainment and NEET risk, this represents a substantial and largely avoidable policy failure.

The speakers reflected on government policy and existing practice, asking what is working well, where the gaps are, and what more could be done to ensure that dyslexia is explicitly considered within solutions, including early identification, post-16 pathways, and better-supported transitions into work and training.

Watch the full meeting recording below