asked the Minister for Labour (a) the result of the survey carried out in 1979 on the percentage of young people who left school in 1978 and who were in employment in the spring of 1979; and (b) when the report on school leavers who left school in 1979, which was carried out in May 1980, will be available.
Written Answers. - Employment of School Leavers.
31.
(a) The 1979 survey was based on information supplied by schools and concerned about 35,000 leavers or slightly over half of the number of leavers in 1977-78. The proportion employed among those concerned was 67.3 per cent. The other major group were — 21 per cent in higher education, and 3.6 per cent available for work. The position of 5 per cent of those covered was unknown to their school.
(b) The results of the 1980 survey, which involved direct interviews with a sample of almost 4,000 out of a total of 64,000 young people who left school in 1978-79, will be available within the next four weeks.