David Cameron today accused Gordon Brown of failing Britain's youth after figures were released showing one in five young people is now out of work.

The pair clashed at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons with youth unemployment now at an unprecedented level.

Among those aged 16 to 24 the number looking for work, has reached almost 19.8 per cent — almost one million — for the first time.

Mr Cameron said: “You once promised to abolish youth unemployment. Do you accept that you’ve failed?”

The Conservative leader said the Government planned cuts across Whitehall departments that would hamper measures to reduce youth unemployment including apprenticeships and development loans.

“The state of the public finances is so bad that the Government plans deep cuts in every department including those that help the unemployed,” he said.

Gordon Brown rejected figures showing that 943,000 young people were unemployed.

“I have to say about the figures you quote on youth unemployment, 250,000 of the number you quote are full-time students looking for part-time work and they are not fully unemployed,” Mr Brown told MPs.

“No government in Europe is doing more to help young people out of work.”

The figures came as Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, today announced plans to make apprenticeships equivalent to A levels by attaching Ucas points to them. The work based placements will become a passport to university and each year the 1,000 top apprentices in England will be handed one-off “golden hello” bursaries of up to £1,000 when they enter higher education, through an Apprenticeship Scholarships Fund.

The plans are part of the National Skills Strategy and will come into force in 2011.

According to recent figures, while the numbers of people taking up apprenticeships has risen slightly, take-up amongst 16 to 18-year-olds has fallen.

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