Mr. Fosterasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is his latest estimate of the current staying-on rates in full-time education in each English region; and what effect the youth training scheme is having on those rates.
Sir Keith JosephEstimates for English regions are not yet available. Early returns to the 1982–83 school leavers survey indicate that the proportion of pupils in England reaching the minimum school leaving age and staying on to the first year sixth form this autumn was 31½ per cent., a fall of 1–1½ percentage points compared with the previous year. It is provisionally estimated that the proportion attending full-time further education courses fell from 20 per cent. in 1982–83 to 17 per cent. in 1983–84; the proportion attending part-time courses rose from 9 to 16 per cent. over the same period.
The estimates for 1983–84 include those on YTS undertaking the training element of the schemes in further education establishments. It is not clear how far YTS has affected education participation rates, particularly since YTS itself is currently under-subscribed. The position is being closely monitored as more information becomes 198W available. There is some evidence that job opportunities for minimum age school leavers have increased significantly in many parts of the country and this would also have an effect on participation rates.