The report, Overlooked and Left Behind, found that 53 per cent of young people who do not go to into higher education risk being trapped “in low-skilled, low-paid work, with little chance of a rewarding career.”

More News 

Budget 2016: Key points on education, lifelong learning and apprenticeships 

School libraries ‘face cuts or closure’ 

More than 200,000 children taught in struggling schools

Practical maths lessons will teach post-school teenagers ‘real-life’ skills 

And in a direct blow to the Government’s much trumpeted apprenticeships programme, the peers found just 6 per cent of 16-18 year olds are enrolled on the schemes.

Concluding: “The expansion of higher education has served some groups well. It has, however, disadvantaged those already underserved by the education system and inhibited upwards social mobility for those in the middle.

“Non-academic routes to employment are complex, confusing and incoherent. The qualifications system is similarly confused and has been subjected to continual change.”

Instead, the final four years of schooling should be redesigned so that more pupils can pass recognised vocational qualifications on a par with A-levels.

 

“A young person considering their options for further education or employment is presented with gobbledygook.

 

“It is totally unclear to them how they can get the skills needed for a successful career.”

 

She added: “Simply put, young people choosing not to go to university are not invested in as they should be.”

 

 

The Government has boasted that it will train three million apprentices over the course of this parliament.

 

The committee recommended the national curriculum stopping at age 14, with a “key transition stage” implemented between the ages of 14 and 19.

 

It also suggested a new “gold standard” in independent careers advice, with the onus moved away from schools and colleges.