Agenda item

This report provides an update on the annual activity survey which provides information about the post-school destinations of Year 11 pupils. This report was requested by members at the June 2013 meeting.

Angela Chiswell (Head of Youth Support Services) and John Galligan (School Improvement Lead – Secondary/14-19) presented a report updating the committee on the Annual Activity Survey. It was explained that the purpose of the survey was to find out what employment, training or education activities school leavers were engaged in as at 1 November. The local authority had a duty to track and record the participation of young people and to encourage, enable and assist young people to participate in education or training.

The key trends evident from the survey data were outlined to the committee by Angela Chiswell. It was noted that the number of young people in Brent had increased by 4.6 percent between 2009 and 2013. There had been a slight increase in the numbers of those not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) but Brent’s performance ranked 8^th nationally and was better than both the London and national average; this was considered a very good performance, particularly when coupled with Brent’s low number of young people with unknown activity status. The overall level of participation in learning via full and part-time routes remained unchanged at 94.2 percent from 2012. However, there had been a slight change in the choice of routes taken, with a small increase in the numbers of those choosing part-time learning or employment.

John Galligan highlighted that the percentage of students studying Level 3 courses had fallen from 78.7 percent in 2012 to 69.7 percent in 2013, whilst participation at Levels 1 and 2 had increased from 21.3 percent to 30.4 percent over this period. It was explained that some young people benefitted from studying at Levels 1 or 2 for a year before moving on to A levels and that this had been found to improve A level drop out rates. Unfortunately, it had recently been announced that funding for the third year of post-16 education would be cut by 25 percent from September 2014. The government’s Equality Impact Assessment had identified that this change would disproportionally affect London and Black and Minority Ethnic groups. Though London had a higher university progression rates, it also had a high number of pupils taking a three year route.

In the subsequent discussion, the committee queried whether the introduction of the pupil premium was evident from the destinations data and requested that future reports detail the uptake of vocational courses. A member also sought further information regarding the tracking of those entering into apprenticeships.

John Galligan advised that it was too soon after the introduction of the pupil premium to fully examine the impact but agreed that in future there should be an analysis of the destinations data for those pupils who had been funded.  Apprenticeships and employment was tracked up to the age of 19 and up to the age of 25 for those with Learning Disabilities. The option of an employability passport for young people had been discussed with the 14-19 Partnership which included head teacher representatives. This passport would enable young people to gain skills with employers whilst they were still in school and to evidence those skills when applying for employment opportunities, including apprenticeships.

The committee noted the report and thanked the officers for their contribution to the meeting.