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Further Education and Training (Skills and Learning, State of the South West 2011)

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4.10.1 According to the Careers Service Activity Survey, 60,800 pupils in the South West left maintained school during 2008. The vast majority of these school leavers stayed on in education (82%), with much smaller numbers starting government-supported training courses (5%), entering work (5%), being unemployed or not available for work (5%) or having unknown outcomes (2%). Staying on rates in the region are the same as the England average with girls more likely to stay on in education (86%) than boys (79%).

4.10.2 The Department for Children, Schools and Families also draws together information from the different post-16 learning options to give a comprehensive picture of the participation of 16 to 18 year olds. This is the source used to
measure the local authority for the percentage of 17 year olds in education or training. In the South West, almost four-fifths (79%) of 17 year olds were in education or training in 2008, marginally below the England average of 80%. Within the South West, staying on rates varied from 91% in Bath & North East Somerset to 74% in Poole.

Figure 4.10.1 Percentage of 17 year olds participating in education or training by gender, 1997 to 2008

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Percentage of 17 year olds participating in education or training by gender, 1997 to 2008 (Fig 4.10.1)
Percentage of 17 year olds participating in education or training by gender, 1997 to 2008 (Fig 4.10.1). Source: DfE.
4.10.3 The proportion of young people entering Further Education (FE) has expanded in recent years. In 2008, more than two-thirds (67%) of 17 year olds in the region were in full-time education compared with 56% in 2001. However, the regional participation rate remains one percentage point below the national average. Rising participation rates have increased the number of 17 year olds in full-time education by more than a quarter (26%) since 2001. In 2008, 45,400 17 year olds in the region were studying full-time.

4.10.4 Young people’s participation in FE is generally funded by the Government. Provisional data for 2009/10 suggests that there were 103,900 government-funded learners aged 16 to 18 in the South West studying in FE colleges or school sixth forms, an increase of almost 2% on the previous year (The Data Service, Further Education and Skills). 45% of these learners were on courses leading to Skills for Life qualifications, 38% were on courses leading to full Level 3 qualifications and 31% were studying for full Level 2 qualifications.

4.10.5 During 2008/09, 74,000 16 to 18 year olds in the region achieved qualifications following a government-funded education (The Data Service, Further Education and Skills). This included 30,300 basic skills (Skills for Life) qualifications, 15,000 full Level 2 qualifications and 15,200 full Level 3 qualifications. Success rates for FE are not disaggregated by age at the regional level. However, national estimates suggest that young people are equally as likely as older learners (aged 19 and over) to achieve their learning aims. Four-fifths of FE learners of any age in the South West achieved their learning aims in 2008/09. This is marginally below the England average of 81%.
4.10.6 A and AS level results are slightly lower in the South West than the England average. In 2009/10, the average point score per candidate entered for Level 3 qualifications was 728.0 (Department for Education, GCE/Applied GCE A/AS and equivalent results). This is slightly better than the equivalent of two A grades and one D, or three B grades. While better than the average point score for the previous year of 719.7 points, it is lower than the England average of 744.8 points. As with other qualification levels, girls (737.9 points) achieved better results than boys (716.7 points). One-in-ten candidates (10%) achieved three or more ‘A’ grades in the South West compared with the England average of 13%. The percentage of boys achieving the highest grades (9.9%) is broadly similar to the percentage of girls (10.1%) achieving the same level (Figure 4.10.2).

Figure 4.10.2 GCE A and AS level results for 16-18 year olds (average QCA point score1) by gender; South West, 2005/6 to 2009/10

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GCE A and AS level results for 16-18 year olds (average QCA point score1) by gender; South West, 2005/6 to 2009/10 (Fig 4.10.2)
GCE A and AS level results for 16-18 year olds (average QCA point score1) by gender; South West, 2005/6 to 2009/10 (Fig 4.10.2). Source: DfE.
4.10.7 Average point scores are highest for candidates living in the region’s villages (856.1 points) and rural towns and fringes (770.1 points). Candidates living in hamlets and isolated dwellings (715.1 points) and urban areas (720.8 points) performed less well. The percentage of students achieving the three or more A grades also varied considerably by area type, ranging from almost one-fifth (18.6%) of students living in villages to almost one-in-ten candidates living in rural town and fringes (8.7%). Results at local authority district level reflect this variation with the highest points recorded by candidates in Salisbury (922.1 points) and the lowest in Torridge (569.4 points).

4.10.8 Local authorities monitor the number of young people taking A levels in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biological Sciences. The number of young people studying these subjects has increased in recent years. Compared with 2007/8, the number of A level entries in 2009/10 was 13% higher for Physics, 11% higher for Chemistry, 6% higher for Biology and 20% higher for Mathematics.
4.10.9 Fewer than one-in-ten (8%) of 17 year olds living in the South West were in work-based learning in 2008. Work-based learning is more popular among boys (10%) than girls (6%) but has been declining in popularity in recent years. The proportion of 17 year olds pursuing this route has fallen by two percentage points since 2001, with the learner volumes also 15% lower than their 2003 peak.

4.10.10 During 2008/9, 10,600 learners aged 18 or under in the South West started a government-funded Apprenticeship, 1,100 fewer starts than the previous year. Young apprentices (i.e. those aged 18 or under) account for almost two-fifths (38%) of all apprentices in the South West. Three-quarters of young apprentices started programmes leading to full Level 2 qualifications while the remainder started Advanced Apprenticeships. 7,800 young people in the region completed an apprenticeship during 2008/9. This was 1,000 more than the previous year with over three-quarters (76%) at Level 2 and one-quarter (24%) at Level 3. Apprenticeship success rates are not available by age at the regional level but are generally slightly lower for young people than those aged 19 and over (The Data Service, Success Rates SFR Supplementary Tables). The 2008/9 all-age success rate in the South West (73%) is the second highest in England and is comfortably above the national average (70%).
4.10.11 Almost 6% of young people aged 16 to 18 in the South West were not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) during 2009/10. The South West has one of the lowest NEET rates of all Government Office regions. The
NEET rate in the worst performing local authority area – Swindon – was more than twice that in the best performing area Torbay in 2009/10. Estimates show that the proportion of NEET young people aged 16 to 18 remained low during the 2008/2009 recession (Figure 4.10.3) mainly due to an extension of existing guarantee arrangements that offered a training place to all 16 and 17 year olds if they were NEET in January.

Figure 4.10.3 Percentage of 16 - 18 year olds not in employment, education or training in the South West, 2006 - 2009

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Percentage of 16 - 18 year olds not in employment, education or training in the South West, 2006 - 2009 (Fig 4.10.3)
Percentage of 16 - 18 year olds not in employment, education or training in the South West, 2006 - 2009 (Fig 4.10.3). Source: DfE.
4.10.12 Young offenders are less likely than other young people to be engaged in employment, education or training. During 2006/7, almost three-quarters (72%) of young offenders (aged 10 to 17) were in suitable employment, education or training, down from 80% the year previously.

4.10.13 While the learning guarantee appears to have mitigated the negative impact of the recession on the NEET rate for 16 to 18 year olds, the rate for 18 to 24 year olds was not similarly protected. Estimates suggest that 17% of 18 to 24 year olds in the South West were NEET during the final quarter of the recession.The latest estimate, for the third quarter of 2010, suggests that the rate may have fallen (to 16%) although it is not possible to determine this with
any statistical certainty due to the relatively large error margin associated with the survey estimate.
4.10.14 More than three-quarters (77%) of 19 year olds in the South West were qualified to Level 2 in 2008. This is the same proportion as the England average and has increased in recent years (Figure 4.10.4).

Figure 4.10.4 Percentage of 19 year olds qualified to Level 2 and Level 3; South West, 2003/4 to 2007/8

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Percentage of 19 year olds qualified to Level 2 and Level 3; South West, 2003/4 to 2007/8 (Fig 4.10.4)
Percentage of 19 year olds qualified to Level 2 and Level 3; South West, 2003/4 to 2007/8 (Fig 4.10.4). Source: DCSF.
4.10.15 Within the South West, the percentage of 19 year olds reaching this qualification is highest in the Isles of Scilly (83%) and Bath & North East Somerset (80%), and is lowest in Bristol (65%) and Swindon (65%). Local authorities are also tasked with monitoring the inequality in the achievement of this objective with progress being measured by changes in the percentage of young people claiming free school meals who reach this qualification level. Only two local authority areas – Dorset and Poole – performed worse on this measure in 2006/7 than
in 2005/6.

4.10.16 Just over half (51%) of young people have achieved a qualification to at least Level 3 by the age of 19 (See more). The regional figure is one percentage point higher than the England average and has risen slowly over the last four years (Figure 4.10.4). The national target is for 54% of young people to achieve a Level 3 qualification at 19 by 2011. Three local authority areas in the South West – the Isles of Scilly (67%), Bath and North East Somerset (55%) and Wiltshire (55%) – have already exceeded the national target. Plymouth, by contrast, has the lowest levels of attainment at this level at 39%. The equality gap at Level 3 worsened between 2005/6 and 2006/7 both regionally and in most local authority areas.