HC Deb 07 November 1996 vol 284 c678W
Mr. Worthington

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the national targets for education and training for the year 2000; and what has been the Northern Ireland achievement against those targets in each of the past five years. [1694]

Mr. Ancram

The following national targets for education and training for the year 2000 apply in Northern Ireland:

Foundation Learning

  1. (1) By age 19, 85 per cent. of young people to achieve five GCSEs at grade C or above, an intermediate GNVQ or an NVQ level 2.
  2. (2) By age 19, 75 per cent. of young people to achieve level 2 competence in communication, numeracy and information technology; and 35 per cent. to achieve level 3 competence in these skills by age 21.
  3. (3) By age 21, 60 per cent. of young people to achieve two A-levels, and advanced GNVQ or an NVQ level 3.

Lifetime Learning

  1. (1) 60 per cent. of the work force to be qualified to NVQ level 3 advanced GNVQ or two A-level standard.
  2. (2) 30 per cent. of the work force to have a vocational, professional, management or academic qualification at NVQ level 4 or above.
  3. (3) 70 per cent. of all organisations employing 200 or more employees, and 35 per cent. of those employing 50 or more, to be recognised as investors in people.

The information available about progress in Northern Ireland towards those targets is as follows:

Foundation targets
Percentage
1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
Foundation target 1 56.4 63.2 64.5 n/a
Foundation target 3 41.0 43.0 42.5 n/a
n/a = not available.
Lifetime targets1
Percentage
1993 1994 1995
Lifetime target 1 34 36 37
Lifetime target 2 20 21 21
Lifetime target 3
percentage of organisations with 200 or more employees recognised as investors 0 1
percentage of organisations with 50 or more employees recognised as investors 0.5 1

Notes:

There is currently no measure for foundation target 2.

Source:

1 Labour Force Survey (Spring).