RAISING THE PARTICIPATION AGE – Information for Young People

At the moment, young people can leave full time education atthe end of Year 11. This is changing;from 2015 all young people will have to stay in learning until at least their18^th birthday.

This means that the current Year 9 and all of those pupilswho are younger than this will have to remain in learning until they are18. The law also says that young peoplewho are currently in Year 10 will have to stay in learning to the end Year 12.

This doesn’t mean that all these students have to stay atschool, but they do have to stay in learning. This includes the options of:

• full-time education, such as school or college
• work-based learning, such as an apprenticeship
• part-time education or training if they are employed, self-employed or volunteering for more than 20 hours a week.

Young people currently get free education until they are 19and it is important that they make plans for how they will progress post 16 toachieve their goals and make the most of their entitlement while theireducation is still free.

To help young people understand the options open to them,and how different routes and qualifications fit together, we have developed aBradford Learning Offer. The details of the qualifications available in theDistrict and where these can be studied are on www.Bradford4Learning.com and alsoon the individual websites of learning providers.