Raising the Participation Age (RPA)
The age to which all young people in England must continue in education or training has been raised, which means they must continue to be in education or training until the end of the academic year in which they turn 17 from 2013 and until their 18th birthday from 2015.
This does not necessarily mean staying in school; young people have a choice about how they continue in education or training, which could be through:
- full-time study in a school, college or with a training provider
- full-time work or volunteering combined with part-time education or training
- an apprenticeship
