Many 17-year-olds are now finding jobs where they weren’t a few years ago so leaving training. They are not sitting around doing nothing

THERE has been a fall in the number of 16 and 17-year-olds who are in education or training in Swindon.

However, while council chiefs say they want to see the figure increase, they say it is down to more teens finding work.

Government figures released this week show 89.8 per cent of youngsters in this age group are gaining qualifications of some sort but this is down 2.1 per cent on the previous year.

This bucks the national trend, where there has been an overall rise.

Among 16-year-olds the number in education or training has gone up but there has been a substantial decrease in the 17-year-old age group.

Councillor Garry Perkins (Con, Haydon Wick), the cabinet member for skills, said: “This is not as bad as it first appears and is in fact a sign of the buoyant economy.

“What we are seeing is a lot of 16-year-olds continuing with their education or starting another course.

“But many 17-year-olds are now finding jobs where they weren’t a few years ago so leaving training.

“They are not sitting around doing nothing.”

Despite this, the council says it wants to encourage people to continue with some form of education when they start a job to help them later in life.

“We don’t want them to be in a situation where they cannot move to a new job or if they lose their current one, they lack the qualifications to get another,” said Coun Perkins.

“We are trying to work with employers so more young people who work for them can stay in education, whether this is through apprenticeships or day release schemes.

“It is important young people have qualifications so while it is not as bad as the figures first appear we will try to improve it.”

Last month, the council hosted Jobfest, an event which brought many young people together with more than 80 local employers.

The afternoon at STEAM was attended by more than 500 people and Coun Perkins said it showed the depth of both talent and opportunities in Swindon.

Coun Perkins said: “There was a great atmosphere down there and with the number of employers there was something for everyone. Swindon has always had a great diversity of jobs, from manufacturing to finance and many others.

“We want to continue this link between employers and young people and will certainly be hosting the event again next year, when I am sure even more companies will be keen to take part.”