HC Deb 06 November 1969 vol 790 cc164-5W
46. Mr. Willey

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what action he is taking to encourage children in the Northern Region to continue to stay at school after school-leaving age.

Miss Bacon

There has been a significant improvement in recent years in the numbers of children staying on voluntarily at school in the region. Between 1964 and 1968 the percentage of pupils over the age of 15 staying on voluntarily rose from 24.2 per cent. to 40.5 per cent. In addition, nearly a third of young people aged 15 to 17 are receiving some form of further education. The raising of the school-leaving age in 1972–73 will strongly reinforce these encouraging tendencies. But as my right hon. Friend has repeatedly said, we shall not be satisfied until the Northern Region achieves the same record of voluntary staying on as marks the more favourable areas in the rest of the country.