A new study, conducted by the charity Education and Employers Taskforce, has found that young people are less likely to ultimately become unemployed the more they are exposed to employers while they are at school.

According to the study, schoolchildren are, in fact, five times less likely to drop out of school or training if they take part in four or more activities with employers.

Those not in contact with employers, by contrast, were revealed to be the most likely group to withdraw from education or training.

Report author Dr Anthony Mann explained: "A lot of people think that this is common sense stuff, but we have found the hard evidence for the first time.

"It shows a lot of a little goes a long way."

In a bid to help bridge the gap between education and the labour market, the coalition recently announced the launch of a new apprenticeship scheme.