The Government is increasing the age to which all young people in England must continue in education or training, requiring them to continue until the end of the academic year in which they turn 17 from 2013 and until their 18th birthday from 2015.
Young people currently in Year 11 and below are affected.
Raising the participation age (RPA) does not mean young people must stay in school; they will able to choose one of the following options post-16:
- full-time education, such as school, college or home education
- an apprenticeship
- part-time education or training if they are employed, self-employed or volunteering full-time (which is defined as 20 hours or more a week).
The information in this section provides more information about raising the participation age. This includes our response to the consultation the Deparment ran on RPA regulations in early 2012 and details of locally-led delivery projects, which are running in 44 local authorities across the country.
