The Committee will receive a verbal update in regards to Post 16 Education.

The Committee received a presentation that highlighted a number of issues in relation to Post 16 Education including:

·         Targeted work on groups of students not currently succeeding;

·         Development of supported internships for young people with Special

Educational Needs;

·         Development of alumni groups;

·         Widening access to selective universities;

·         Focus on educating parents on the full range of post school activities; and

·         Developing employability skill and social and cultural capital.

The main points of the discussion on this report may be summarised as follows:

The Committee:

·         Noted that previously students had the option to retake units towards their A level and AS level examinations.  This is no longer available;

·         Noted that the performance of students had remained consistent for the past 4 years;

·         Noted that more work would be undertaken to improve the guidance on the options available to young people e.g. information on the full range of academic and vocational options. In response the Committee stated that it would wish to see students being also offered the option of both academic and vocational mix;

·         Noted that the incentives for schools to encourage students to attend their sixth forms instead of considering other possibly more vocational options are significant.  Many students and their families prefer to take the academic option and vocational courses can be very resource intensive

·         Noted that the Higher Education Awards process has been revised to improve the access to support for the whole range of young people ;

·         Noted need to encourage students to consider Higher and Further Educational institutions in the basis of their suitability and not their proximity to the students family home; and

·         Noted that work is also needed to look at apprenticeship routes that provide an opportunity to gain a full bachelor’s or master’s degree. These courses have been designed in partnership with employers, with part-time study taking place at a university.