We are delighted that Sutton’s Children Looked After (CLA) and care leavers have continued to make strides forwards in terms of educational outcomes. Children who come into the care system, often face challenges that can impact their education, but with the support of schools, foster carers and professionals we have a trend of improving exam results and strengthened destinations. This year, 9% of the CLA GCSE cohort gained grade 5-9 in both English and maths, which is 1% better than any previous year. The was a 4% increase from previous years, with 27% gaining GCSE grade 5 or higher in English and 23% gaining grade 5 or higher in Maths, which is a 6% increase on the previous best. We were pleased that 32% of the GCSE cohort gained 5 or more GCSEs at grade 4, with one Sutton CLA achieving nine GCSE grade 9s. Future pathways for our young people are vitally important as well and 95% young people starting year 12 in September have signed up to start year 12 in Education, Employment and Training (EET).
Approximately 20% of the GCSE cohort arrived in the UK as Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking (UASC) young people at the start of year 11 with little spoken English and limited previous education opportunities. These students have been supported to progress through ESOL qualifications, enabling them to move to GCSE level and higher after the age of 16. We are proud of the progress our UASC young people make in Sutton, and we delighted that for the second year running a UASC has taken up a place at university, having arrived in the UK aged 16 and has progressed through ESOL, GCSE and BTEC qualifications. At key stage 5, two care leavers are joining the 27 other care leavers from the past 3 year at university and 81% of care leavers are moving in Employment, Education or Training post 18.
Sutton Virtual School recognise there is still huge progress to be made to ensure that Sutton’s Children Looked After achieve the best educational qualifications possible and we continue to work with a number of university Widening Participation schemes to promote ambitious educational achievements in the future.
To find out more about the work of Sutton Virtual School, visit our website https://www.cognus.org.uk/services/suttonvirtualschool/