Education and Skills Act 2008

The Education and Skills Bill received Royal Assent on the evening of 26 November 2008. This landmark piece of legislation will increase participation in learning for young people and adults, helping to meet the Government’s ambition of achieving world-class skills in the UK by 2020. This is a joint Act with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills that puts in place a right for adults to basic and intermediate skills, giving adults a second chance to gain the skills they need to thrive in society and throughout their working lives.

For the first time in 30 years, Government has legislated to raise the education leaving age to 18.

Raising the participation age gives every young person the best chance to achieve and succeed. Young people are required to participate in education or training until their 18th birthday through either:

• full-time education or training, including school, college and home education;
• work-based learning, such as an Apprenticeship, including traditional contracts of apprenticeship;
  or

• part-time education or training, if they are employed, self-employed or volunteering more than 20 hours a week.

In doing this, young people have new rights to take up opportunities for education and training, and the support they need to engage in learning.

The Act also rationalises the regulation and monitoring regime for independent schools and non-maintained special schools in line with the Government’s wider simplification and bureaucracy cutting agenda.

The Act makes a number of other changes to support raising the participation age, including:

More support for young people

• Careers education provided by schools for 11- to 16-year-olds is strengthened by  requiring that the information, advice and guidance given is impartial and offers all the appropriate options.

• Responsibility for delivering the Connexions service has been transferred to local authorities so that it can join up with other local services and offer all young people the support they need in making their learning choices and tackling barriers in their personal lives that may prevent them from progressing.

• Local authorities have been empowered to arrange assessments of learning difficulty needs in a person’s final year of compulsory education and up to the age of 25 for any young person who would benefit from one.

Provisions for adult learners

• Placing a duty on the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to ensure the free provision of basic skills and first full level 2 qualification courses.

• Placing a duty on the LSC to ensure that 19- to 25-year-olds who are undertaking their first full level 3 qualification do not have to pay tuition fees.

Other provisions in the Act

• Listening to the views of children – school governing bodies will now be required to invite and consider the views of pupils on core policy matters that will affect them.

• School admissions – young people now have a right to express a preference as to the school in which they wish to receive sixth-form education, and to appeal against any decision made. The Act also places a duty on local authorities to produce an annual report on the school admission arrangements in their area.

• Key Stage 3 testing – minor changes to the legislative regime governing the National Curriculum will enable the Government to put into effect the Secretary of State’s announcement that Key Stage 3 tests will no longer be compulsory from summer 2009.

Related links

http://www.parliament.uk/business/bills_and_legislation.cfm
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/14To19/index.htm
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/sacode/

For more information please contact:

Tel: 0870 000 2288
Email: info@dcsf.gov.uk

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