UNIONS have demanded the government “turbocharge” its support for pupils in England after a new TUC study published today found that more than a quarter of young people do not have level-2 English and maths.

And young people from poorer families are even less likely to have the core qualifications; one in two 24-year-olds who relied on free school meals as students do not have level-2 English and maths, a failure rate double the national average, researchers said.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the findings revealed “the crisis created by the Conservatives that has been years in the making.”

Mr Nowak warned that young people without these key qualifications — equivalent to a GCSE grade C — are more likely to end up stuck out of work.

The TUC research found that lack of level-2 qualifications is a strong predictor for young people becoming Neet (not in education, employment or training) and pointed to the most recent official figures, which estimate there are 957,000 such youngsters under the age of 24.

Mr Nowak said: “We know that early experience of good-quality paid work makes a huge difference to young people’s prospects across their lifetimes. But too many young people are stuck out of work for extended periods — and that has long-lasting effects for their own prospects and for the country as a whole.”

“The government has taken important steps like the jobs guarantee, stronger workers’ rights and the delivery of an industrial strategy. But it must now turbocharge its efforts. Turning things around for young people must be a shared national mission: that’s how we start to rebuild Britain,” he said.

Public opinion supports a concerted effort to deliver better education and training, the TUC says. Its latest polling found that 51 per cent of people surveyed think opportunities for young people are deteriorating and two in three believe government action is needed to expand training and apprenticeship opportunities for young workers.

The findings come as former health secretary Alan Milburn, who is leading a major government review, accused the state of failing young people in a “shameful” way by “transporting them into the world of benefits.” His interim report into young Neets is expected to be published this week.