School Leaving Age
Raising the Participation Age in England from 16 to 18
STOP PRESS MAY 2010
The new Coalition Government has yet to make a definitive statement on whether the school leaving age will be raised. The previous Government's plans may be considered too costly to implement. We will post regular updates on the Education Otherwise campaign site.
The Education and Skills Act 2008 introduced the raising of the school leaving age in England. The Act introduced enabling powers for the Welsh Government to implement similar measures but the legislation in Wales is not part of the English Act. The Education and Skills Act is of course not relevant to Scotland.
The Department for Children Schools and Families refers to the new measures as "raising the participation age" since education will take place in a variety of settings, not just at school. As the DCSF web page on Raising Participation explains:
"The Raising of the Participation Age (RPA) means that all young people [in England]will continue in education or training to 17 from 2013 and to 18 from 2015."
"Participating in education" does not just mean attending school or college; "education otherwise" will continue to be a legal option and is specifically mentioned in the Act.
The Department for Children Schools and Families wrote to Education Otherwise in April 2010 as follows:
"Raising the Participation Age: supporting local areas to deliver (published in December 2009), sets out what local authorities and their partners need to do in order to achieve full participation, together with how we at the DCSF are going to support this.
In this document (the main source of information on Raising the Participation Age) our policy intention is that home education is a valid route for young people - this is outlined in paragraph five."
