Raising The Participation Age - RPA
From the summer of 2015 it is a requirement that all those aged between 16 and 18 are participating in either Education or Training. So what do you need to decide?
- Continue to study under the study programme - this means either going on to complete A Levels or an equivalent qualifications such as Level 3 BTEC’s. You may even do a mixture of study and work experience. It could mean staying at the same school or Academy or even moving to a new school/academy or college.
- Apprenticeship - you may decide you want to start the path towards a career straight away and start gaining work experience along with a qualification. With an apprenticeship you have the opportunity to train for an NVQ (National Vocational Qualification), while earning, and learning skills for the job.
- Full Time Work or Volunteering with Part-Time Education or Training - you can go straight into employment full time or if that is not possible you can work part time and train part time, or even volunteer and study part time or train part time. Full time means working for 20 hours or more each week, but you would have to continue some kind of accredited learning alongside your employment or volunteering. You could either do this via a school or college, or within work. The training needs to amount to 280 hours over a year, equal to one day a week but can be arranged to meet the needs of your employer or where you are volunteering.
Why?
On the most part this is not a huge change, most 16-18 year olds remain within education or training, however RPA means that all now have the opportunity to develop their skills, gain qualifications and help them to be better prepared for adult life and ultimately help you to succeed. This is true whether you decide to stay at sixth form or college, or decide to go for an apprenticeship or decide to get a full time job.
This will ultimately benefit you as it has been proven that obtaining qualifications between 16 and 18 will help you to earn more over your lifetime - for example those that have 2 or more A Levels can earn up to 14% more than those without these qualifications.
Research has also suggested that if you decide to choose the Apprenticeship route you are likely to earn £100,000 more than those without.
Options
When you complete Year 11 there are now a number of decisions you need to make. In light of RPA there are 4 main options for you to choose from:
- Stay in Education - you can decide to stay within school/sixth form/college and continue with your education.
- Apprenticeships - join an apprenticeship programme with an employer, where you will train and gain qualifications while you earn.
- Develop Employability - you may need to improve your maths and English to ensure you reach the minimum standards that employers are looking for, you can also gain work experience and take part in other activities that will assist you into work.
- Employment - you can get a job, but it must also lead to an accredited qualification, at least until you reach the age of 18 and equal to 1 day a week of learning.
UCAS Progress is a helpful database www.ucas.com/progress here you will find information on the local courses and opportunities that are available for those aged 14-19 years of age. Most schools/academies/colleges and training providers use UCAS Progress and list the courses they offer (bear in mind, this does mean that there are some schools/colleges/training providers that have chosen not to use this service).