LSC South East - lsc.gov.uk - Learning and Skills Council

Buckinghamshire’s participation rate goes from 87% to 97.2%. The average rate of
1 7
0.
972
growth of the participation rate is therefore = 1.
016 , or by 1.6% each year
0.
87
over the seven year period. Hence the participation rate in 2007 is calculated as
0.87 1.016 = 0.884. For 2008 it becomes 0.886 1.032 = 0.899, and so on.
5. Project forward the component parts of the overall participation rate
We now need to project forward the component parts of the overall participation
rate, in such a way as to be consistent with the overall rate. The simplest method
would be to assume that each component retains its share of the total, however
this is unlikely to be correct and we can do better than this.
We make a number of (we believe) reasonable assumptions about future trends in
the components of participation. These can obviously be challenged and it is
simple to examine the effects of alternative assumptions in the spreadsheet
model. In particular, we assume:
a) The independent share of learners remains constant. The policy driver of an
increase in the school leaving age is unlikely to affect the independent
sector.
b) The work-based learning participation rate increases by 50%. We base this
assumption on the government’s response to the Leitch Report 3 which sets
a target of a doubling of apprenticeships by 2020. If the implied rate of
growth is taken to 2013 it implies an increase of 50%.
c) We assume the part time participation rate remains constant. There is not
much basis for any particular assumption, but it is in line with the data from
1998-2005 and it is unlikely to grow given the policy driver makes education
compulsory and presumably full time for most.
d) The full time participation rate therefore becomes the residual component
and accounts for most of the growth (apart from WBL) in overall participation.
6. Projections post 2013/2015
These years are simply set to be the same as for 2013 (for 16 year olds) or 2015
(for 17 year olds). It is possible that the participation rate will eventually climb
above 98% and there might be continuing convergence, but the differences are
likely to be small and any estimates rely on a substantial degree of speculation.
Commentary on the general quality of the data and caveats for our results
Undertaking this project we encountered difficulties with some aspects of the data
and with combining it with our methodology, which suggest some limits to the
3 Prosperity for all in the global economy – world class skills (HM Treasury 2006).
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