Young people who refuse to take up training or education could see their benefits cut, Chancellor Gordon Brown has said.
In a BBC interview, Brown said he advocated a "carrot and stick" approach - education maintenance allowances (EMAs) balanced by "compulsion if necessary".
It comes after the Department for Education and Skills confirmed plans to raise the school leaving age in England to 18 by 2013. While some 16-18 year olds will stay at school, under the proposals others will be involved in work-based learning or vocational courses at college.
The Chancellor has proposed adapting the existing "Train to Gain" scheme to provide work-based training for 16 to 18-year-olds, alongside a plan to double the number of apprenticeships to 500,000.
He said young people must realise they could not receive benefits unless they were "contributing to their own training".
"I believe it's the combination of the carrot and stick that's going to make the difference," he said, and added that the UK must become “number one in the world in education”.
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