THE number of 16 and 17-year-olds in education in Blackburn with Darwen has decreased by almost five per cent according to new figures.

The Lancashire County Council’s Education Scrutiny Committee has been told that 87.2 per cent were in education in December 2014 which was down by 4.9 per cent from December 2013. However the number of 16 and 17-year-olds in Lancashire in education rose by 2.6 per cent to 89.4 per cent.

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The report to the committee also reveals that the number of youngsters gaining five GCSEs in Blackburn with Darwen has risen by 20 per cent between 2005 and 2013 to 84 per cent. Lancashire also saw an increase from 69 per cent to 84 per cent.

The number of youngsters gaining five GCSEs including England and maths in Blackburn with Darwen also increased from 40 per cent to 61 per cent and from 50 per cent to 68 per cent in Lancashire. The report shows that 57 per cent of under 19s in Blackburn and Darwen gained two A-Levels in 2013, up from 38 per cent in 2005, while Lancashire saw a rise of 15 per cent to 59 per cent.

The declining participation figures for Blackburn and Darwen have been rebuffed by Blackburn College which has said that it has not seen a decrease.

Claire Berry, at Blackburn College said: “We are not seeing that downward trend at Blackburn College, which could possibly be because of a decline in the youth population in Blackburn and Darwen. We have been incredibly encouraged by our high application rate for the University Centre, partly as a result of our new qualifications which allow adults to come back to education.”

Xavier Bowers, headteacher at Mount Carmel RC High School in Accrington, said: “I’m surprised that the number of teenagers in education in Blackburn with Darwen has gone down. It could be because there are more students looking for places and there are more alternatives outside the borough such as Burnley College.”