Education

Schools, Colleges and Universities have been going through seemingly endless change over the last decade. In London we now have boroughs where the majority of secondary school provision is provided by Academies, independent of control by the local authority, and concerns have been raised about how this fits with the rest of local authority provision.

Results in London's schools have been improving - for example, GCSE results in London are now better than those of England as a whole - but serious issues still remain:

• By 2017 the shortage of school places is set to reach 133,000, this is starting to put pressure on secondary school places as well as primary school places

• 1/3 of London families did not manage to get their child into their first choice school in 2011, double the proportion in the rest of the country (London Councils 2014)

• 4.5% of 14-18 year olds in London are recorded as not in employment, education or training (NEET) in London

• Over 26,000 young people in London aged <18 are estimated to be carers for an ill or disabled relative for 20-50 hours a week or more, which has a significant impact on their  education. (ONS 2013)

London's economic well-being lies in the hands of its population and that population needs to be well educated across all sectors - what policies are being developed around this issue and how is the VCSE sector in London responding?