No more NEETs this year

Cheshire East Council will make sure that every one of this year's school leavers is offered a sixth form or college place or a job with training.

Last year the Council made offers to nearly 4,000 young people or 99 per cent of leavers – the highest proportion ever – as part of what is known as the September guarantee process.

This has helped Cheshire East to win the accolade of having the fewest NEETs (young people not in education, employment or training) in the North West. Nationally, only four councils have fewer NEETs.

The ambitious target on NEETs follows news that Cheshire East's schools are the third best in England, according to a ranking based on performance in Ofsted inspections.

Out of 141 primary and secondary schools in the borough which have been inspected under the education watchdog's 2012 framework, 93.6 per cent were rated good or outstanding.

The only local authorities ranked higher in the whole of England were the City of London, where Ofsted inspected just one school, and the London Borough of Wandsworth, where 65 schools were rated.

Councillor Michael Jones said: "This is a fantastic accolade for our schools but we are not resting on our laurels. Our aim this year is for 97 per cent of our schools to be rated good or outstanding.

"Parents can be very proud of the work being done by heads, teachers, council officers and, of course, pupils, to improve standards. It's a great time to be a child in Cheshire East because the quality of education on offer creates much greater opportunities."

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