Does a teen have to stay in education till 18th birthday?

[velvet24]

Just that :)

In theory they have to be in education (school or college) or have an apprenticeship until they are 18.

But I'm not actually sure, who, if anyone checks up on it!

School leaving age - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Hopefully this will have copied correctly.
if not google does a teen have to be in education until 18 and you should find the government page with guidance.

But I'm not actually sure, who, if anyone checks up on it!

Both my lads got letters from the careers department wanting to know what they were doing. They didn't reply and got follow up letters. I think they both replied and the letters stopped.

I think so, in England. Not in all other parts of the UK though.

www.gov.uk/know-when-you-can-leave-school#:~:text=England,for%20example%20at%20a%20college

I suspect its mostly that they won't get any unemployment-based benefits before then.

Though I suppose it's entirely possible that employers are no longer allowed to give a full-time job with no training to a minor.

But I'm not actually sure, who, if anyone checks up on it!
Actually I remember we had a home visit once. I think it was DS2 who hadn't replied to a letter and someone turned up wanting to know what he was doing. DS had started at a college but it wasn't working out for him and he was hating it so we told him to leave. Whether the college reported him being a NEET kid, I don't know. However he started a different college doing a different course the following September so all ended well.

not really, no ime in 2016-17. There may be phone calls and mail shots. Nagging basically.

Ds hated college and dropped out at about 16 and a half. He already had a job and just asked if he could up his hours. Work agreed and he has been working full time since. He just turned 18 and we have had no contact from anyone regarding him leaving education.

Never heard of that, is it an English thing? I left school at 16 didn't have a job at the time either. I'm in Scotland.

In england theoretically they need to be in employment education or training until 18 although as mentioned above it's not effectively policed.

No, but they have to be doing something with a training/educational related element. So even if they get a full time job (unless it's an apprenticeship or a traineeship) they still have to engage in part time education or training.

www.gov.uk/know-when-you-can-leave-school

Worth noting that technically at 18 they can stop attending - but most stay until the end of the academic year. However, child benefit (if received) would still be payable to the parent until the first Monday so the YP can't claim UC until after this date.

The LA is supposed to follow up on those YP who are NEET, but whether their funding actually stretches this far is another debate all together!

No they don't.
They have the choice of
Staying in education either at a school or college.
Doing an official apprenticeship.
Working a minimum of 20 hours a week while doing a part time college course (no minimum hours required for college course).
But basically they can 'drop out' at any time and there's no follow up or fines.
The only thing that would happen is that if your child stays in full time education and you receive child benefit or other child related benefits then they will stop. If your child drops out of an apprenticeship or does not have a job they can't receive unemployment benefits.

A couple of my ds friends work in local fast food not on apprenticeships and this seems to be ok
My nephew dropped out and didn't do anything Im not sure what happened though