Focus on: Skills and Qualifications

April 2018 (Update April 2019)

Summary

Overall with performs above the national average on the Progress 8 measure of attainment at Key Stage 4, although there are significant differences between progress in the borough’s schools. On overall attainment, the borough scores 50.3, just above the all average score of 48.5. After secondary education, a greater proportion of the borough’s young people stay on in full time education or training and a smaller proportion in apprenticeships, compared to Local Education Authority (LEA). On average, a lower proportion of students who study A Levels in schools and colleges achieve top grades compared to the England average.

Working age residents of the borough have on average lower levels of higher level qualifications and a greater proportion have no qualifications; although the gap to the regional and national averages with no qualifications is narrowing. The UK wide Employer Skills Survey estimates that around 3% of businesses in Blackburn with Darwen stated that they had a skills shortage vacancy (which is due to a shortage of skills or experience that the employer is looking for).

Qualifications – Key Stage 4 The measure of attainment at Key Stage 4 (KS4) has seen a number of changes over recent years and is now moving away from the use of GCSE attainment to Progress 8 and Attainment 8 as the key measures.

Progress 81 Progress 8 scores are only published for mainstream schools e.g. those classed as maintained or academies. They aim to measure how much progress pupils at each school make between the end of Key Stage 2 (KS2) and the end of Key Stage 4 (KS4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of KS22. The average for mainstream schools in England is 0. Overall in 2016/17, Blackburn with Darwen is measured to be performing above national average, scoring 0.11. However, performance varies between schools with the top performing schools scoring well above, or above average being:

School name Score – 2016/17 Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School () 1.81 (well above national average) Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School (Academy) 1.55 (well above national average) (Academy) 0.45 (above national average) (Academy) 0.38 (above national average)

Schools in the borough performing below average on this measure are: School name Score – 2016/17 Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio (Academy) -1.48 (well below national average) (Academy) -0.52 (well below national average) Darwen Aldridge Community Academy (Academy) -0.45 (below national average) Our Lady and St John Catholic College (Maintained school) -0.22 (below national average)

1 Source: DfE https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=phase®ion=889&geographic=la&phase=secondary 2 For definitions, further information and calculation of Progress 8 please see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/progress-8-school-performance-measure Attainment 8 In addition to Progress 8, the Attainment 8 scores are based on how well pupils have performed in up to 8 qualifications. Attainment 8 scores are available for independent schools in addition to mainstream schools.

School performance tables highlight that in 2016/173 with a score for state funded schools of 46.4, the borough sits just above the average for state funded schools only (46.3) and above the all England schools average (44.6).

Attainment 8 scores4 for the borough increased from 47.5 in 2014/15 to 50.3 in 2015/16 but saw a decrease in 2016/17 to 46.1 (a decrease of 4.2 points). This decrease is on a par with national (state funded sector) and regional trends that saw attainment 8 point decreases of 4.0 and 4.1 respectively.

Average Attainment 8 scores per pupil for 2014/15 to 2016/17 (provisional)

Schools with an Attainment 8 score above the borough average5 are:

School name Score – 2016/17 Tauheedul Islam Girls' High School (Academy) 64.5 Jamiatul-Ilm Wal-Huda UK School (Independent) 64.4 Tauheedul Islam Boys' High School (Academy) 62.0 (Independent) 58.8 St Wilfrid's Church of England Academy (Academy) 50.2 Islamiyah School (Independent) 49.2 Al Islah Girls’ High School (Independent) 48.9 Pleckgate High School (Academy) 48.3 St Bede's Roman Catholic High School, Blackburn (Maintained) 48.2 Markazul Uloom (Independent) 48.1 Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School (Academy) 47.9

3 5 Source DfE: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=phase®ion=889&geographic=la&phase=secondary 4 Source DfE: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-2016-to-2017-provisional LA tables: SFR57/2017 Local authority, region and the total (state-funded sector) figures cover achievements in state-funded schools only. They do not include pupils recently arrived from overseas and so will not match with state-funded figures in the main tables. The 'England' line above includes all pupils from state-funded schools, independent schools, independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, hospital schools, pupil referral units and alternative provision. Alternative provision includes academy and free school alternative provision.

Young people - participation in education and training6

Following the completion of education, from 2015 it was made compulsory for 16 to 18 year olds to be participating in education or training. Formal education is not the only option for those who have left school.

In order to monitor take up of post 16 education, local authorities have a responsibility to track young people's participation in education or training. They do this through the exchange of information with schools and colleges, other youth services and through direct contact with young people. Information about a young person's activity is recorded on a client database, an extract from which is used to prepare the following statistical information.

There are a proportion of young people whose activity is not recorded, which as of June 2017, stands at 2.2% in Blackburn with Darwen (lower than the North West figure of 3.2%).

In total 92.2% of 16 to 17 year olds were recorded as being in education and training within the borough, slightly above regional (90.6%) and national (91.4%) averages; the greatest proportion of which were in full time education and training. This compares to the Lancashire Local Education Authority (LEA) area where 78.9% are in full time education and training and 7.9% in apprenticeships, with overall 88.7% in education and training.

Proportion of 16-17 year olds recorded in education and training, June 2017, type of activity

16 to 18 Attainment

Focusing on those who stay in education post 16, a range of data are available to measure attainment in providers in the borough. This data is based on the location of the school or college, as opposed to the residence of the student.

For A level results in 2016/177, 9.4% of those studying in Blackburn with Darwen achieve AAB or higher in at least two facilitating subjects8. This is lower than the England average for all schools/colleges (17.0%) and England state funded institutions 14.2%.

6 Source: DfE https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-in-education-and-training-by-local-authority 7 Source: DfE https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-attainment-at-19-years 2016/17 revised Local Authority Tables SFR03/2018 8 Facilitating A levels are ones that are commonly needed for entry to leading universities. They are: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Geography, History, English Literature and Classical or Modern Languages. The schools and colleges in the borough with the highest percentage achieving AAB or higher in at least two facilitating subjects9:

School or college name Number of % students Darwen Aldridge Community Academy 22.2% 18 Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School (Academy) 16.3% 86 St Mary’s College (College) 11.9% 202

Darwen Aldridge Community Academy and Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School were both recorded as performing ‘well above average’ on the progress score for ‘A’ levels. Whilst there is variation between institutions, 94.8% of students in Blackburn with Darwen Schools and Colleges were recorded as completing their main study programme compared to 95.3% in state funded schools nationally.

GCE A level and equivalent results of state-funded students aged 16 to 18, percentage of students achieving grades AAB or better at GCE A level, Applied GCE A level and Double Award A level10

GCE A level and equivalent results of state-funded students aged 16 to 18, percentage of students achieving grades AAB or better at GCE A level, Applied GCE A level and Double Award A level 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 State-funded sector 16.8% 16.7% 16.1% 15.9% 18.5% 19.3% North West 17.2% 17.2% 16.3% 16.0% 19.0% 19.5% Blackburn with Darwen 9.4% 7.9% 10.1% 12.1% 10.4% 15.9%

Vocational qualification results for the borough, as recorded in the applied general qualifications performance11, identified that one state funded institution was performing above average on the progress score:

School name Score 2016/17 Darwen Aldridge Academy 0.57 (Above national average)

However, overall the average point score for institutions within the borough offering these qualifications (31.99) was below the England average for all state funded schools (35.69) and all schools in England (35.73). For borough institutions as a whole 89.4% of students completed their main programme of study, compared to 88.5% of students in state funded schools and colleges in England.

9 Source: DfE https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=phase®ion=889&geographic=la&phase=16to18 10 Source: DfE https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-attainment-at-19-years Local Authority Tables Table 9a 11 Source: DfE https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by- type?step=phase®ion=889&geographic=la&for=16to18&basedon=Applied%20general%20performance&show=All%20students Qualifications – in the population as a whole12

Please note that the data in this section can be subject to relatively large confidence intervals, meaning there is some level of uncertainty around the figures presented. For more detail on confidence intervals for specific figures please see www.nomisweb.co.uk.

The proportion of working age (16 to 64) residents in the borough who have a level 413 qualification or above has seen a gradual increase in recent years, currently standing at 28.9% compared to 21.9% in 2011. This gradual increase mirrors the regional trend, however the borough figure remains below the regional level.

Percentage of residents of working age (16 to 64) qualified to NVQ4 level and above Local authorities with the highest proportion of the population qualified to NVQ Level 4 and above are Rossendale (51.2%), Ribble Valley (46.5%), Fylde (41.4%) and Chorley (39.6%). Authorities with some of the lowest levels include Pendle (21.5%), West Lancashire (22.2%), Hyndburn (22.6%) and Blackpool (23.0%).

Percentage of residents of working age (16 to 64) qualified to NVQ4 level and above Jan 2011- Jan 2012- Jan 2013- Jan 2014- Jan 2015- Jan 2016- Jan 2017- Dec 2011 Dec 2012 Dec 2013 Dec 2014 Dec 2015 Dec 2016 Dec 2017 Blackburn with Darwen 21.9 23.3 25.2 23.5 25.6 28.0 28.9 North West 28.8 30.2 30.9 30.9 32.6 34.0 34.5 England 32.5 34.1 34.9 35.7 36.7 37.9 38.3

Percentage of residents of working age (16 to 64) qualified to degree level or above, Jan 2017 to Dec 2017 In addition to NVQ qualification, data is also available to estimate the level of the population qualified to degree level or above. Around a fifth of borough residents in the borough have this level of qualification, the highest levels are found in Rossendale (43.6%), Ribble Valley (38.7%) and Chorley (32.7%).

12 Source: ONS Annual Population Survey www.nomisweb.co.uk 13 Level 4 qualifications: e.g. HND, Degree and Higher Degree level qualifications or equivalent At 12.1%, the current figures suggest that Blackburn with Darwen has the highest percentage of residents with no qualifications, out of the districts in the wider Lancashire area.

Percentage of residents of working age (16 to 64) with no qualifications

Although still above the regional and national figures, the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in the borough with no qualifications has been decreasing over time with the gap to the regional and national figures narrowing.

Employer Skills Survey14

The national Employer Skills Survey undertaken in 2015 interviewed with 176 employers15 in the borough, and provides some information on employers perceptions of skills in their business. The 2017 survey is currently underway and results will be available later in 2018. Skills shortage vacancies The survey estimates that 17% of business establishments in the borough have vacancies, which is on a par with Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and North West figures (17% and 18% respectively). Around 3% of businesses in Blackburn with Darwen stated that they had a skills shortage vacancy (which is due to a shortage of skills or experience that the employer is looking for), just below (but not at a statistically significant level) Lancashire LEP (5%) the North West (4%) and England (6%). Employee skills gaps The percentage of businesses in the borough who identified that they had staff which were not fully proficient at 21%, was higher (but not significantly) than Lancashire LEP (17%) and region (14%). Expressed as a proportion of staff, around 6% were estimated to be not fully proficient, again not significantly higher than Lancashire LEP (4%) or the North West (5%). The main cause of the skills gap most prevalent in Blackburn with Darwen was the ‘development of new products and services’. On the flip side, 30% of establishments identified that they had underutilised staff in their business, similar to Lancashire LEP (26%) and North West figures (26%) and on a par with England as a whole (30%). Training The proportion of establishments stating that their staff had received some training in the 12 months prior to the survey was at 73% in Blackburn with Darwen, above (but not statistically significantly above) the Lancashire LEP (65%) and North West figures (65%). It was estimated that on average a trainee in the borough received 20 days of training, compared to 8 days in Lancashire LEP and 7 in the North West .The number of training days per trainee was the highest of all Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in England. Whilst it would appear a larger proportion of the boroughs employers are offering training, it is estimated the percentage of staff being trained (56%) is below the Lancashire LEP (64%) and North West (69%) figures. This may be because employers with smaller numbers of staff are providing more training than companies with more staff.

14 Source: UK Commission for Employment and Skills https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukces-employer-skills-survey-2015-england-and-local-toolkit 15 As the sample of employers is small the confidence intervals for the survey data are quite large. Based on a 50% response rate, confidence for Blackburn with Darwen results is +/- 7.4%, Lancashire LEP +/- 2.3%, North West 1.1% and England +/- 0.4%.