Harrogate Borough Council

 
 

Skills and Education

Qualifications achieved by young people in Harrogate are above the already high York and North Yorkshire average and well above the national average, as illustrated in the table below.
 
School Exam Results at GCSE
 
 
In 2004, out of a cohort of 1,720, 94% (1,616) of Year 11 school students continued into education, employment or training (EET). This has been reasonably consistent, with a slight rise occurring over the previous two years. The percentage of Year 11 school leavers not in education, employment or training (NEET) is 4%.
 
In relation to educational attainment of the wider population, the District has a very high proportion (37%) of the working age population with qualifications at NVQ Level 4 (Degree level or higher).  This is higher than the county (32%), regional (23%) and national (26%) averages (Source: Labour Force Survey 2005). 
 
In terms of basic skills the Harrogate District has a lower than average proportion of the population with poor literacy and numeracy skills (Source: Basic Skills Agency).  The national average for people with poor literacy skills is 24%, compared to a Harrogate average of 20.6%.  The national average for people with poor numeracy skills is 24%, compared to a Harrogate average of 19.2%.
 
The following findings are based on interviews carried out with employers in the Harrogate Local Authority District as part of the 2003 National Employers'Skills Survey. The survey provides information on the skill needs of employers looking at areas such as vacancies, skill gaps with the current workforce, training activity, etc. Headlines for the Harrogate survey were as follows:
  • 20% of employers in Harrogate have vacancies. This is around 4% of employment
  • Where there are skill shortage vacancies, the main skills sought by employers include "generic skills", especially problem solving (56%), technical and practical skills (54%), and general IT user capabilities (20%)
  • The main causes of skill gaps are seen as a lack of experience (67%) and recruitment problems (37%).
  • Similar to vacancies, the skills lacking were generic skills, such as customer handling (73%) and communication (61%)
  • Barriers to a fully skilled workforce included a lack of time for training (62%), a lack of cover for training (57%) and a lack of funding (38%)
  • Only 42% of employers stated that they had a training plan
  • 67% of establishments stated that they had provided training in the last year
Want to know more?
Further information about learning and skills in Harrogate is available in the Learning and Skills Council Harrogate Factsheet  2005
 
You can find a range of education and skills statistics for the Harrogate district (including ward level data) on the Dep't for Education & Skills Website at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/inyourarea
 
North Yorkshire County Council is the local education authority for Harrogate.  A wealth of information about education and schools can be found on their website at www.northyorks.gov.uk/education
 
For information about individual educational establishments in the Harrogate district visit http://www.edubase.co.uk
 
For a detailed statistical overview of the Harrogate district economy, please click here.
Harrogate Borough Council, Council Offices, Crescent Gardens, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG1 2SG, Tel: (01423) 500600