WIREDGOV

All 9 regions see increases in 16- and 17-year-olds in education or training.

The proportion of young people in education or training rose across England last year, according to figures published yesterday (9 March 2016).

Data collected by local authorities shows that at the end of 2015 91.2% of 16- and 17-year-olds were in some form of education or training. This was a 1 percentage point rise on the same period in 2014.

As part of its commitment to delivering educational excellence everywhere, the government is determined to ensure all young people, irrespective of their background, have the chance to fulfil their potential.

Skills Minister Nick Boles said:

The rise in 16-and 17-year-olds participating in education or training is very welcome, and we will work with councils to ensure this positive trend continues.

The figures also show the proportion of 16-and 17-year-olds on council databases whose activity was not known fell from 4.8% to 4.3%.

94.9% of 16-year-olds were in some form of education and training, 0.7 percentage points more than in December 2014. 87.5% of 17-year-olds were in education and training, 1.2 percentage points more than in December 2014.

The government has undertaken a number of reforms since 2010 to help young people over the age of 16 fulfil their potential, including:

• raising the age of compulsory participation in some form of education or training to 18
• stripping out low-quality technical and professional qualifications which were not valued by employers from league tables
• putting in place plans to simplify the technical and professional education system by introducing high-quality, easy-to-understand routes leading to skilled employment, which will be as easy to understand as academic routes

Further information

See the participation in education and training by local authority data.

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