Last week Education Datalab published worrying statistics on the number of school students who had been taken off roll and failed to take their GCSEs – some 22 000 more would have been eligible for post-16 study this year.
Yet while young people may finish their mainstream secondary schooling at the end of year 11, it’s now a statutory requirement to continue within education or participate in some form of work-based training until the age of 18. But other data suggests that a significant number do neither of these. DfE figures for the academic year 2016 show only 88% of 17-year olds (1 in 8) remaining in full time study with another 7.5% learning in the workplace.
In the meantime, there were over 60 000 16 and 17-year olds classified as NEET, while out of 173 00 16-17-year olds ‘not in full-time education’ during the first 3 months of 2018, 1 in 4 were recorded as unemployed and approaching 1 in 3 ‘economically inactive’ – though this should not be interpreted to assume that they were not ‘working’.
If the obligation to participate in education or training is being ignored by a small but significant minority, it’s unclear how local authorities can enforce this. Or, with young people voting with their feet, whether they should?
Last week Education Datalab published worrying statistics on the number of school students who had been taken off roll and failed to take their GCSEs – some 22 000 more would have been eligible for post-16 study this year.
Education, Economy and Society 