Collaborative Approaches to 14-19 Provision - Communities and ...

14-19 PATHFINDERS: THE SECOND YEARHAMPSHIRE PATHFINDERThe local context288. The Hampshire LEA area has over 100 state schools, colleges and special schoolscatering for 14-19 year olds. Most of the schools are for 11-16 year olds from which studentsstaying in full-time education and training progress to a variety of further education, tertiaryand sixth form colleges. Across the local LSC area (which is wider than Hampshire) aroundfive out of six 16 year olds in full time education attended college (compared with anEngland average of around three out of six). In 2001 73% of 16 year olds in Hampshire werein full-time education and training compared to an England average of 71%. In 2002 56.2%of pupils aged 15 achieved 5+ A* - C GCSE/GNVQ results which was 4.6 percentage pointsabove the England average. The average points score at GCE/AVCE level was also abovethe England average.289. The 14-19 Pathfinder is located in two distinct areas of Hampshire and operatesthrough two partnerships. One of these partnerships is in East Hampshire, centred on smalltowns such as Alton, Petersfield and Liphook. None of the schools in this area have sixthforms. Students progress to the local sixth form college or travel to other colleges, includingseveral GFE colleges, on the periphery of the partnership area.290. The other partnership is in South-West Hampshire, in and around the New Forestarea. Here there are a number of schools with sixth forms and two main colleges. There is ahistory of strong competition between institutions for post-16 students in this area, partlystemming from the establishment of five school sixth forms in the 1980s.291. While the configurations of schools and colleges are different in the two areas thereare issues which are common to both. One is the relative under-development of vocationaland work-based learning. There are no training providers located in either of the two areas,although some providers outside the areas do recruit trainees from within them. There is alsoa relative lack of entry level and level 1 and 2 provision for post-16 learners so that whilelevel 3 learners have extensive choice of provision that available for learners at lower levelsis much more circumscribed. Vocational provision was particularly patchy in East91