Raising the Participation Age

RPA - part of the ‘bigger Participation picture’

• ‘Building Engagement, Building Futures’: Strategy published in December 2011.

• Cross-Government approach to increasing participation of 16-24 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 18-24 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 18th 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 2015 - 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-16RPA 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

groupscare 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’

DutiesLocal 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 16-19 year olds;

• Encourage, enable and assist young people to participate;

• Processes in place to deliver the ‘September Guarantee’

• Track young people’s participation

DutiesLearning 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 2012 - there will be a statutory duty on schools and PRU’s 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