Local Context and Background Information We want our schools and colleges to be engines of social mobility, so that students succeed because of talent and hard work, and their ambitions are shaped by this, and not limited by the school or college they attend or the place where they live. As you can see from the data below our Trust serves some of the most deprived communities in the country. New College Pontefract – Wakefield, West Yorkshire • • • • • • • • •
The multiple deprivation profile is unchanged from 2010. Is the 65th most deprived district with high levels of education and skills deprivation. 15% of the population live in the most deprived neighbourhoods and there is a widening gap between the most deprived and the least deprived parts of the district. 12% of parents have no qualifications against a national figure of 17%. 25% of children live in poverty, and levels in areas from which the college recruits are much higher than this - Airedale 37%, West Wakefield 39%, Hemsworth 31%, Knottingley 30%. The gap between the achievement of disadvantaged groups against non-disadvantaged groups is much higher than the gaps across England, and 53% of children from deprived backgrounds do not reach the academic attainment expected at age 11. Only 7 out of 20 schools are above average for progress 8. The free school meals gap is narrowing at a slower rate than national. HE progression is lower than the national rate.
New College Doncaster – Doncaster, South Yorkshire • • • • • •
More people of working age claim benefits than in the rest of England, and the achievement of 5 good GCSEs remains below the national rate. One third of children live in poverty, defined as living in a household where the income is less than 60% of the median national income, and there is a higher than average number of child protection plans. 23% of families claim income support. The employment rate lags behind the rest of Yorkshire and the Humber and over 10% of working age population have no qualifications. Participation in post-16 education is lower than national. Only 4 out of 18 schools have an above average progress 8 score. The highest deprivation is in education and employment – 34 worst out of 326. Doncaster has a lower rate of HE progression than regional and national rates.
New College Bradford – Bradford, West Yorkshire • • • • • •
The percentage of children attending a good or outstanding school is 42% against a national figure of 76%. Average employment lags behind both local and national rates. Is the 19th most deprived local authority, being the second most deprived across Yorkshire and the Humber, and the 5th in England. 27% live in the 10% most deprived areas, where 6% live in the 10% least deprived, so that’s a wide variation. 29% of children live below the poverty line (20% average). Only 27% of the population are qualified to level 4, and the number with no qualifications is higher than regional and national rates. 4
