Ministerial policy on educating teenagers “smacks of circular motion rather than progress”, according to a study billed as the biggest into the subject for half a century.

The six-year Nuffield Review on Tuesday singles out for criticism policy on “the bottom half” of 14- to 19-year-olds – the less academically able. It warns that “so many young people leave school inadequately prepared for further study or training”, and notes England’s “significant portion” of “Neet” teenagers. Neets are not in education, employment or training, and are more prone to joblessness in later life.