Regional 14-19 Targets

The LSC North East Regional Commissioning Plan 2008-2009 identifies the following priorities:

• Raise the educational achievement of all children and young people
• Narrow the gap in educational achievement between children from low income and disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers.

While the focus must be on all young people, the region’s progress will be measured specifically by the proportion of young people achieving Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications by the age of 19. By raising overall achievement, we will also increase the achievement levels of the most disadvantaged.
 
The targets are:

• to increase the proportion of young people achieving Level 2 at age 19 from 71.4 per cent in 2006 to 82 per cent by 2011; and
• to increase the proportion of young people achieving Level 3 at age 19 from 46.8 per cent (in 2006) to 54 per cent by 2011.

Progress

In the North East, in 2006, 69.2 per cent of young people had achieved a qualification at Level 2 and 40% had achieved at Level 3 by age 19. In 2007 these figures showed a strong improvement rising to 73% and 41.6% respectively.

The target for 2008/09 is for 77% of 19 year olds in the region to have achieved at Level 2 and 48% at Level 3. If the 2007/8 cohort achieve at a similar level to the 2006/7 cohort, it is almost certain that the target for 2008 will be exceeded. Further details of progress, including local authority level data, can be found in the LSC North East’s report: Level 2 and Level 3 at age 19 in 2006/07 Key Findings.