East London News A Force for the community…
The Department for Education has released figures showing the percentages of students progressing to university in all English Boroughs. Tower Hamlets is the only inner London borough to appear in the top ten: the Borough is in joint seventh position, with 68% of its students going on to university.
Much of the credit for this achievement must go to the young people who worked hard to make it into higher education – and to the school and college staff who taught them. However, Tower Hamlets Council has also played its part, having worked with schools to offer many kinds of support to raise achievement over the last couple of decades.
It has also been announced that nearly three quarters of those who do go to university go to one of the country’s top institutions, which are organised as the Russell Group of universities.
Mayor Lutfur Rahman greeted the news with a reminder of why education is a top priority: “For our young people, education is a route out of poverty and with an excellent education they can realise their potential as tomorrow’s doctors, lawyers and leaders in other fields. That’s why I’ve invested over £300 million in our schools.”Congratulations to our pupils, parents and teachers for their stunning achievements yet again.”
Some of the Mayor’s specific initiatives – such as the local scheme which replaces the national Education Maintenance Allowances which were scrapped by the Government – have yet to influence the figures, so there are hopes for even greater improvements in coming years.
The announcement comes on the back of a report last year by the Institute of Education led by Prof. David Woods CBE concluding that Tower Hamlets has some of the “best urban schools in the world.”
•The top ten in England for percentage of students going to higher education:
1 Brent (73%)
2 Harrow (71%)
3 Merton (71%)
4 Redbridge (71%)
5 Ealing (70%)
6 Reading (70%)
7 Sutton (68%)
7 Tower Hamlets (68%)
9 Barnet (67%)
10 Bexley (66%)
•To read the latest DFE figures on university progression, go to:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pupils-destinations-data-to-help-parents-choose-the-best-schools
