With more than one million young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), the U.K. faces a long‑term economic challenge that cannot be solved by job creation alone. An increasingly important question is whether entrepreneurship could provide another route back into economic participation for NEET young people. And if so, are we equipping them to recognize self‑employment as a viable option?

The latest ONS figures showed 1.012 million 16-24‑year‑olds were NEET in January to March 2026, representing 13.5% of young people and an increase of 89,000 year‑on‑year. Crucially, 61% were economically inactive rather than unemployed. They are not simply waiting for jobs; many are disconnected from the labor market entirely. That makes the challenge deeper, and the potential solutions broader.

A Different Kind of Pathway

For decades, policy has focused largely on helping young people find employment. But some business leaders insist the conversation has overlooked another possibility altogether. Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson has long argued that the U.K.’s systems for education and employment are too narrow for the diversity of talent young people possess. For him, entrepreneurship is not a consolation prize for those who don’t thrive academically; it is a legitimate, high‑potential route to success.

He says: “There’ll be lots of young people out there who didn’t get good grades at school but have a creative mind and big ideas about how they might be able to make an impact in the world. We need to do more globally to encourage entrepreneurial spirit from a young age and give people the confidence and support to give it a go, as well as the resilience to bounce back and try again when things don’t work out. It’s no easy task, but with the right support, more people can turn that spark of an idea into something that makes a real difference.”

Knowing How You Learn Best

His point is simple: entrepreneurship is not an alternative to education; it is an alternative to exclusion. Few stories illustrate this more clearly than that of Jordan Lansdown, founder of the activewear brand JLUXE . In 2020, at just 21, she decided university wasn’t the right path and launched her business from her spare bedroom with a £4,000 loan from her grandma.

Having worked from the age of 13 and juggled two jobs alongside school, she was used to being in a work environment. “I always knew that eventually I wanted my own business, and at the time, didn’t feel like university was going to be the best route to get me there,” says Lansdown. “I felt I would learn more by being around people who were actually doing it.”

Her approach reflects a growing trend among young founders: learning by doing, not waiting for permission. “Sometimes it’s about knowing how you learn best, putting yourself in environments where you can gain experience and being open to where that might take you,” she says.

The Startup Funding Challenge

But drive alone isn’t enough. Access to capital remains one of the biggest barriers for young people with ideas but limited financial backing. In 2021, Lansdown secured a £25,000 Virgin StartUp loan, which she describes as transformative. “It allowed me to move the business forward at a point where it was holding back the growth,” she says.

JLUXE has since grown into a seven‑figure business, generating more than £1 million in revenue over the past 12 months. But Lansdown insists the real story lies in the messy middle. “You don’t need to know everything before you start,” she says. “ There were so many mistakes, failed products, things I didn’t understand and moments where I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. You learn, you adapt, and you keep going.”

Her message to young people who feel they are behind because they are not in education or employment is direct. “There are so many different ways to build a career now. University can be one of them, but it is absolutely not the only one,” she says. “Your route might look completely different to everybody else’s, and that’s ok even if the closest people around you disagree. Prove them wrong! You don’t need to have your entire career mapped out at 16.”

The Case for StartUp Support

Branson has advocated for better access to startup finance for young entrepreneurs for years. Through Virgin Media Pioneers, he helped build the case for government‑backed startup loans, lobbying MPs and then‑Prime Minister David Cameron. When the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans program launched in 2012, Virgin quickly became one of its most successful delivery partners.

Since 2013, Virgin StartUp has distributed £100 million in Start Up Loans to 7,000 U.K. founders. The mission is simple: make entrepreneurship accessible. But as managing director Andy Fishburn points out, while the ambition among young people is strong, the knowledge gap is wide.

He says: “We know the ambition is there, but while our Results Day research shows that 85% of parents would support their child in starting a business, only 57% of parents would feel confident advising their child on how to begin. Closing that awareness and confidence gap is an important part of our work.”

The startup loan model goes beyond funding. Eligible founders receive support developing business plans and cash-flow forecasts, together with access to mentors, expert advisers and a community that helps them navigate the challenges of building a business. The results speak for themselves. Founders who received Virgin StartUp support early in their journey went on to build nationally and internationally recognized businesses such as Castore, DASH Water, OddBox and UpCircle Beauty.

A Strategic Economic Solution; Not Just a Social Good

With public finances under pressure and the labor market shifting rapidly, the case for youth entrepreneurship is becoming economic, not just moral. “We need to recognize that a young person’s contribution should not be limited to filling an existing vacancy,” Fishburn says. “Some will thrive in employment, but others have bold ideas about how they can make a difference in the world and are interested in turning those ideas into a business.”

Entrepreneurship, he argues, can bring new talent into the economy and create new sources of growth. The economic impact is measurable: for every £1 loaned through the Virgin StartUp program, £5.60 is generated for the UK economy.

Exposure Must Start Earlier

If entrepreneurship is to become a genuine route for NEET young people, finance alone won’t be enough. Awareness and exposure must begin long before a young person leaves education, yet only 35% of young people in England report any exposure to enterprise education at secondary school.

Momentum is building. Goldman Sachs Gives, and serial entrepreneur Sir Richard Harpin have partnered with The Careers & Enterprise Company to boost enterprise skills and build a national blueprint for enterprise education.

Fishburn believes the government has a role to play by embedding entrepreneurial learning more firmly into the curriculum and creating clearer pathways from school into enterprise support. “Businesses also have a responsibility to open their networks and supply chains to new businesses,” he says.

Entrepreneurship is not a rejection of education. It is an expansion of opportunity. And for a million young people currently outside the system, it may be one of the most overlooked routes back into economic participation.