Post-16 Education and Training

Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET)

Annual data for 2017 showed that 3.64% of young people aged 16-17 were not in education, employment or training (NEET). This was higher than the England average (2.71%).

Apprenticeships

The number of Higher apprenticeship starts rose from 330 last year to 650 in 2018/19. Total starts recovered upwards compared to last year, but are still below the numbers seen prior to the introduction of the apprenticeship levy. By age, the largest increase in starts was among those age 25 and over, while starts by people aged under 19 fell.

Apprenticeships span a wide range of subjects, with 35% of starts being in the business, administration and law sector (see table below).

A Levels

There are no official A Level participation rates published, but crude rates can be calculated using exam entrant numbers. Accordingly, 31% of Wakefield’s 18 –year-olds took at least one A Level in 2018, compared to 36% across England as a whole. Of the 1,151 students entered for an A Level or Applied A Level in 2018, 458 were male and 693 were female. This gender bias is more pronounced in Wakefield than it is across England as a whole.

Results for 2018 show the average points score per A Level entry (30.8) was slightly lower than the England average (33.3) (all schools, not just state funded), while only 12.9% of pupils achieved AAB grades or better, compared to 21.1% across England as a whole.

English is the A-Level subject studied most often in Wakefield, followed by art and design and maths. Art and design and law make up a higher proportion of total Wakefield entries than is seen across England as a whole (see table below). In 2018, 29% of A level entries were in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths), up from 27% the previous year. Across England as a whole 34% of entries were in STEM subjects.