UCU said today that the government had to urgently do more to help young people, as official figures revealed that almost one in five 16-24-year-olds (1,163,000) are not in education, employment or training - an increase of 137,000 on this time last year.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The number of young people not working or learning is at record levels, yet, as the job market gets even tougher, access to education is being restricted and careers help slashed.

'Today's figures are a worrying reminder that we need to do more to help young people get on, not consign thousands more of them of them to the dole queue.'

Allikas: UCU