WIREDGOV

Five new Raising Participation Age (RPA) trials will begin in local authorities across the country to help prepare young people and the education sector for this significant change in the law.

This is on top of the 11 existing trials being extended so we continue to learn from their experiences of engaging all young people, including the most vulnerable, in education and learning.

Backed by over £1 million of additional Government investment this work will pave the way for raising the participation age to 17 by 2013 and 18 by 2015 across England.

RPA will involve all young people staying in full-time education, work-based learning such as an Apprenticeship, or part-time education or training.

The trials focus on developing best practice in three different areas:

• re-engaging 16- and 17-year-olds who have dropped out of learning, back into education or training
• providing the right careers advice to young people to ensure they make the most of their options and skills, drawing on the recent DCSF information, advice and guidance strategy
• developing area-wide strategies that meet local needs and enable full participation of all young people in education or training.

Speaking during a visit to meet young apprentices in Ealing, Iain Wright said:

The days when young people could leave school at 16 without qualifications and find themselves a rewarding career are long gone - today, they need to continue learning to gain the skills and experience needed for the workplace and higher education.

Raising the participation age is one of the biggest changes to education in England for a generation. We’re working hard to ensure it benefits all young people by offering good careers advice, more post-16 choices than ever before and by helping those not in education or training to re-engage with learning.

Every 16 and 17 year old already has the opportunity to continue in education or training through our September Guarantee and this year’s January Guarantee for school leavers. This has helped us to support a record proportion of 16- and 17-year-olds to participate in learning. We will invest a record £8.2 billion in 2010-11 to fund learning for 1.6 million young people.

The five new areas launching trials are: Ealing, Blackpool, Plymouth, Worcestershire and a joint trial involving Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull. These trials will run initially for one year when good practice and lessons learned will be collected and passed to all local authorities to help prepare for RPA.

Raising the participation age is historic, increasing the minimum age at which a young person can leave learning for the first time since 1972.  There is strong evidence of a link between continuing learning and improving future life chances. Young people who stay in learning for longer are much more likely to find sustainable employment, and have better health.

Further information

The 11 areas where trials are being extended are: Barnsley; Swindon; Wandsworth; Derby; Staffordshire; Cumbria; East Sussex; Hertfordshire; Lambeth; Newcastle and Greater Manchester. These trials began in October 2009.

From March 2010 16 areas will be trialing one of the following models:

• How local authorities can work most effectively in securing a full IAG (Information, Advice and Guidance) offer for young people to support the Raising of the Participation Age; Derby, Lambeth and Staffordshire have been working on this model and new areas on this model will include Ealing and Plymouth.
• How local authorities can plan and deliver a system, building on the September Guarantee, which effectively picks up those aged 16 and 17 who disengage with learning through the year and who are not participating, and re-engages them in education or training. Barnsley, Swindon and Wandsworth have been working on this model and new areas on this model will include Worcestershire, Blackpool, and Coventry/Warwickshire/Solihull.
• The development of an area-wide strategy to enable full participation of all young people in education or training. This model will assess the overall challenges, barriers and implement solutions at a local level. Greater Manchester, Cumbria, Hertfordshire, Newcastle and East Sussex have been working on this model.

We intend through these trials to inform our national policy and guidance to local authorities.

The Education and Skills Act 2008 means that from 2013 all young people will be required to continue in education or training post-16. This will increase the minimum age at which a young person can leave learning for the first time since 1972. This is not about raising the school leaving age. Young people will be able to participate in a way that suits them. That could be in: full-time education, such as in full-time education at school or college; work-based learning, such as an Apprenticeship; or part-time education or training, if they are employed, self-employed or volunteering for more than 20 hours a week. The minimum age at which young people can leave learning is being introduced in two stages, to the end of the academic year in which they turn 17 from 2013, and until their 18th birthday from 2015.

More young people than ever before are continuing in learning. At the end of 2008, 92.7 per cent of 16-year-olds and 83.5 per cent of 17-year-olds in England participate in education or work-based learning. This is compared to 90.5 per cent at 16 and 79.7 per cent at 17 in 2007.The full figures are available from DCSF's website.