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Original poster

Raising of the School Leaving Age

32 replies

Fran4 · 15/03/2013 14:19

This year the school leaving age goes up to 17 and in 2015, it goes up to 18. I would hope that both of my children would go into the sixth form regardless of this, but I still think the change in the law will have an impact on them. I've trawled around the net looking for posts on the subject, but nobody seems to be talking about it, not the government, not parents, not even the kids themselves.

My concerns are listed below. Does anyone have any thoughts / does anyone have any information?!

  1. About 75% of 16 year olds stay on into some sort of secondary education / training. The change in the law will effectively add a third onto the numbers staying on. How are schools going to cope with this in terms of space and number of staff?
  2. Is the admissions process for 6 forms going to change? At the moment it is selective or at least mainly so as far as I can see. Where will the 16 year olds who don't get selected go? Is 6th form entry going to become more competitive? Are we going to see the creation of schools with massive problems because they end up with a large proportion of the young people who can't get in elsewhere? Or are schools going to be forced to abandon any form of selectivity?
  3. If 16 - 18 year olds have to attend school by law, shouldn't they get free transport to get them there and back?
  4. What happens to child benefit / child tax credits?
  5. Are 16 year olds going to be forced to do courses which are really not appropriate for them?

The list goes on and on .... In my mind this is probably a positive change, but it seems very strange that it isn't sparking any kind of public debate and that no-one is taking about how it will work logistically.

OP posts:
ReallyTired · 15/03/2013 16:38

In my area studio schools are being set up to cater for children aged 14 to 18 with a more vocational curriculum. I imagine that many children will leave comprehensives to go to these schools. This will free up classrooms and teachers for the extra sixth formers in the comps.

I wonder how they are going to children in EBD schools who frankly don't want to be there. What do you do with a 17 year old who is disruptive but not a criminal?

geogteach · 15/03/2013 16:15

I agree the lack of discussion on this is astounding. I work for a service that provides education for kids excluded from school, traditionally year 11 left us on 30th June, even my head of service doesn't know if we will have to keep them on role or if we will be expected to provide education for 16 /17 year olds who are excluded. To be honest until a couple of months ago he hadn't even noticed it was happening Shock

LeeCoakley · 15/03/2013 16:12

Yes, it's the opportunities that are going to be available that is bothering me. Dd3, yr10 now, decided that she was going to do an apprenticeship years ago and not go into 6th form. Does this mean that she is going to be competing for an apprenticeship with others that don't really want one but are being forced to? How will there be enough to go round? I'm sure the choice isn't going to be there. At the moment students can leave school at 16, get a job and then retrain later if and when they feel they want to. Now they will have to make some choices before they are ready. Imagine spending two years doing something that was a bad choice. Also are 6th formers going to be educated with students that don't really want to be there? A recipe for disaster where everyone loses.

BoundandRebound · 15/03/2013 15:50

My worry is the lack of vocational training, apprenticeships and opportunities for those who are not academic

Original poster
Fran4 · 15/03/2013 15:03

Agreed that they don't necessarily have to be in school - they can be in full time training or an apprenticeship instead, but even that still raises all sorts of questions, for example what happens to those who want to do an apprenticeship but can't find one?

OP posts:
Takver · 15/03/2013 15:00

I agree that its strange that there isn't more discussion. Personally, I'm not sure that it IS a positive change. I'd rather see far more opportunities for people to access education when they want it (very well funded academic and vocational evening classes, for example) rather than pressure for everyone to stay in education until 18 at the earliest, and ideally 21.

antshouse · 15/03/2013 14:53

I don't think they have to stay at school, just be in some kind of education or training.