Raising the Participation Age

RPA - part of the bigger Participation picture Building Engagement, Building Futures: Strategy published in December Cross-Government approach to increasing participation of year olds o Raising attainment by the age of 16 to prepare for participation; o Reaching full participation at age 16-17; o Increasing skills and employment for year olds; o Introducing additional support through the Youth Contract.

Setting the Context: Participation and NEETs (16-17 yr olds) 80,700 (6.3%) are in Training 57,700 (4.5%) are NEET 62,800 (4.9%) are in Work Based Learning 25,700 (2.0%) are in Jobs Without Training Source: Statistical First Release, Participation in EET (June 2011) 1,044,400 (82.2%) are in Full Time Education

What is RPA? The Education and Skills Act 2008 places a duty on all young people to participate in education or training until their 18 th birthday. Staged introduction: –from 2013 it requires young people to continue in education or training until the end of the academic year in which they turn 17* (current Y10) –and from until their 18th birthday* (current Y9) * Unless they achieve a full Level 3 qualification threshold before the milestone is reached The Government confirmed its commitment to raising the participation age to 18 by 2015 as part of the Spending Review and the White Paper - The Importance of Teaching NB: The recent Education Act (2011) amends the original legislation to allow for enforcement of RPA to be introduced at a later date. (The Government commits to review enforcement on an annual basis from 2014)

Options Post-16 RPA is not about raising the school leaving age. It is, however, an extension of this, as Young People will be able to choose how they participate post-16 Full-time education or training, such as a school sixth form, sixth form college, FE college, studio school, university technical college, work-based learning provider, home education or otherwise; Work-based learning, such as an Apprenticeship; Part-time accredited learning/training (approx 280 glhs/year equivalent to 1 day/week) if a young person is involved in full-time (at least 20 hours per week) in either: Employment Self-employment Volunteering

Rationale – Need for Skills Demand for skills is growing – independent experts predict that as few as 600,000 unqualified adults will be in work in 2020 UK needs a more highly skilled workforce, with more young people achieving at higher levels Need to equip young people with the knowledge and skills required to deal with the future employment market

Rationale – Young People Full Participation in education or training by 16 & 17 year olds 96.1% of 16 year olds and 87.2% of 17 year olds are engaged in education or work based training. (National Data June 2011 based on 2010 figures) The small group of young people not participating (NEET) includes some of the most vulnerable, for example. low socio-economic groups ~ LLDD ~ ethnic & other minority groups care leavers ~ carers ~ teenage parents Strong correlation between not participating in education or training and negative outcomes for young people Support those young people in jobs without training (JWT) RPA aims to give all young people the opportunity to develop the skills they need for adult life and to achieve their full potential.

Benefits of Staying on in Learning Evidence shows that staying in learning for longer brings benefits for the individual, the economy and society, including young people: Being more likely to find and keep employment Having greater earning potential Having more choice of future career paths Reduced likelihood of teenage pregnancy, drug use, anti-social behaviour, offending, depression and obesity

No group is exempt from participating, including: Teen parents - Young carers - Young offenders - Care leavers - Traveller children - Young people suffering from medical or mental illness - Young people who demonstrate substance/alcohol misuse – Homeless young people - Young people with cultural barriers - LLDD It may be however, that an individual is unable to participate for a period of time, but can engage at a later stage A young person will be deemed as having a reasonable excuse if their circumstances mean that it is unreasonable to expect them to participate at a particular time. The LA will be responsible for determining this. Reasonable Excuse

Duties Local Authority duty to: Promote the effective participation in education or training of all 16 & 17 year olds resident in their area; and Make arrangements to identify young people not participating This complements their existing duties to: Secure sufficient education and training provision for all year olds; Encourage, enable and assist young people to participate; Processes in place to deliver the September Guarantee Track young peoples participation

Duties Learning Provider duty to: Promote good attendance of 16 & 17 year olds; and Notify the Local Authority when a young person leaves learning Employer duty to: Check young people have arrangements for attending training Agree reasonable hours of work to allow attendance Employers are not responsible for monitoring a young person's attendance nor do they need to pay for the learning or wages of the young person when they are not at work

Duty on Schools and their Accountability September there will be a statutory duty on schools and PRUs to secure access to impartial and independent careers guidance for every young person in Years 9 – 11, thus supporting Participation Destination Measure has been developed, to illustrate schools success in helping learners progress at sixteen, to learning or employment; this supports the Participation agenda