Eighty per cent of young people supervised by youth offending teams (Yots) will be involved in suitable full-time education by March this year, rising to 90 per cent by next March if the Connexions service and Youth Justice Board meet their joint target.

Sixty per cent of young offenders supervised by Yots have been assessed as having special educational needs, and 41 per cent are truanting regularly from school.

Four out of five young people who come into the youth justice system have been out of education for a significant period of time.

A recent survey of self-reported youth crime showed that about a quarter of 11 to 16 year olds in school, and two-thirds of excluded pupils, had committed an offence in the previous 12 months.

Lord Warner, who chairs the YJB, has admitted that many Yots have a long way to go to reach the target, but said some have already reached it.

A quarter of the juvenile custodial population has a reading age of seven or less, and nearly half have literacy and numeracy levels below the average 11 year old, according to the YJB.