County's teens focused on their future - The Stratford Observer

County's teens focused on their future

Stratford Editorial 5th Jan, 2019   0

TEENAGERS in Warwickshire are focused on their future.

Warwickshire County Council (WCC) is one of the most successful local authorities in the country for ensuring 16 and 17 year-olds are either in education, employment or training, according to a recent publication from the Department for Education (DfE).

Recent figures showed Warwickshire was performing strongly in comparison to other parts of the West Midlands and the country as a whole.

All local authorities are required to collect and report information on a young person’s post 16 activity on a monthly basis so the government can publish a national scorecard. The DfE can then monitor those 16 and 17 year-olds not taking part in education, employment and training, (known as NEET).




Warwickshire has reported a significant improvement in the reduction of the numbers of young people who were NEET, including those 16 and 17 year-olds whose activity is not known.

Fewer than four in 100 of Warwickshire’s 16 and 17 year-olds were NEET or not known – down from six in 100 from the previous year. The average West Midlands figure was over six per 100.


The Skills for Employment programme has been singled out as one major factor in the reduction in Warwickshire’s NEET numbers.

The programme has received a £3million injection from the county council to help improve the skills of young people to help them find employment.

Warwickshire education spokesman Colin Hayfield said: “Ensuring young people in Warwickshire have a bright future is one of the county council’s key priorities. This supports our ambition of building an appropriately skilled workforce for our new and existing businesses that are so vital to the economic growth of the region.

“So I’m delighted that the government’s most recent scorecard shows we have such a low proportion of 16 and 17 year-olds who are not participating in education, employment or training.

“It shows our systematic approach, our robust tracking and our excellent partnerships with schools, colleges and training providers is proving successful.”

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