NUMBERS of young people who are not in education, employment or training in West Berkshire are among the lowest in the country, new statistics have revealed.

The Department for Education (DfE) has released a data scorecard showing how local authorities are performing in their duties to support young people aged 16 and 17 to participate in education, employment or training and how well they achieve.

West Berkshire Council has been named as one of the highest performing authorities across the country, coming within the top 20 per cent for its low numbers of young people recorded as NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) or not known.

For all but one of the measures, West Berkshire showed improvement on the previous year. The measure highlighted for improvement showed a decrease in the numbers of young people participating in full-time education, however, this has been offset by an increase in the numbers of young people opting for an alternative apprenticeship or training route, with the proportion of young people following this increasingly popular alternative locally and exceeding the England average.

Lynne Doherty, West Berkshire’s Executive Member for Education said:” We are delighted with our scores. The scorecard clearly shows that there are good opportunities and a high level of support for our young people to take their next step onward from school.”

To view the scorecard, visit https://bit.ly/1x2xn8M