Work experience could be key to improving the prospects of 800,000 jobless young people on track to join Britain's 'lost generation' by 2030.

It comes after the Office for National Statistics revealed the number of young people classed as Neets – not in education, employment or training – has passed one million.

It marked the highest level since the three months to December 2013, when figures were calculated with a different methodology, and represents a 55,000 increase compared with the previous quarter.

The figures also showed 613,000 young people were economically inactive – meaning unable to work or not seeking employment – marking a record high.

But a landmark report has found that those under the age of 16 who enjoy 'meaningful engagement' with their employers are 80 per cent less likely to become Neet than their peers. 

The research by education charity Education and Employers found placements can play a transformative role in improving young people's prospects. 

However, access to work experience remains heavily dependent on family connections, meaning opportunities are unevenly distributed.

Up to 81 per cent of work experience placements are currently arranged by young people's families using personal networks, the report found. 

Three-quarters of school staff surveyed for the report said connections give some young people an advantage over others.

The findings raise questions about how the Government’s guarantee of two weeks of work experience will be delivered fairly in secondary schools.

It estimates that delivering the Work Experience Guarantee for under-16s alone would require a staggering six million placement days every year.

The report warns that the lack of support and infrastructure risks widening existing inequalities, with the best opportunities continuing to go to the best-connected. 

Meanwhile, the report found that only 58 per cent of Key Stage 4 students aged 14 to 16 are completing work experience. 

Up to 94 per cent of teachers say job shadowing would be difficult or very difficult to organise, while 81 per cent say the same of workplace visits.  

Employers cited limited capacity, competing demands and bureaucracy as significant barriers to students completing work experience.

Education and Employers is calling for a new, youth-focused national careers information service that will target young people most at risk of becoming Neet. 

It said the updated service, alongside greater investment in employer engagement and brokerage, would level the playing field for students without family connections.

Nick Chambers, Chief Executive of Education and Employers, said: 'The Government's commitment to two weeks' work experience for every young person is absolutely the right ambition. But ambition alone will not deliver outcomes. 

'Without the right infrastructure, support and coordination, there is a real danger that we end up advantaging the advantaged and disadvantaging the disadvantaged.'

Ex-Cabinet minister Andy Milburn earlier this year declared it was a 'moral crisis' that one in six young people aged 16-25 will be reliant on out-of-work benefits by 2030. 

The former Labour health secretary called for a 'whole system reset' on education, welfare and health policy and warned the cost of rising Neet numbers will hit £125billion a year. 

Earlier this month, Marks and Spencer announced it would help up to 1,000 young people kickstart their careers amid fears that youth unemployment could reach 18 per cent by next spring. 

The retail giant has said it will offer traineeships to hundreds of 18 to 24-year-olds over the next year-and-a-half. 

Successful applicants will go through a six-month scheme where they will learn about retail management and confidence building as well as gain hands-on experience. 

They will then undertake further training before starting full-time jobs.