This weekend, like thousands of others, I accompanied a sixth-form pupil on a university open day visit. It happened to be to my alma mater, Exeter. Whatever he and his friend made of studying sciences at a buzzing campus in a cultured city, the conversation in the long drive back veered towards Alan Milburn’s report into the “lost generation” of one million young NEETs (not in employment, education or training). How might that influence their c…