Education

Some Key Facts

• Buckinghamshire has two universities within its borders producing 1500 graduates a year.
• Buckinghamshire’s colleges take approximately 12,500 students each year
• Buckinghamshire has the strongest school performance in the country, with 80.7 per cent of residents reaching NVQ2 by 19 and 61.2 per cent reaching NVQ3.
• Over 35% of working-age residents in 2009 had achieved qualifications of NVQ level 4 and above
• Buckinghamshire is home to the National Enterprise Academy, set up by Peter Jones in 2008.  The academy was founded to enable student to develop their entrepreneurial potential.
• Buckinghamshire still operates a Grammar School system and has 13 such schools across the county
• Buckinghamshire County Council provides a total of 185 primary schools and 34 secondary schools as well as 140 venues for adult learning.
• Outstanding OFSTED reports have been achieved locally by 12 primary schools, 2 secondary schools and 14 nurseries.
  (Source: OFSTED Outstanding Providers, 2008/2009)

Buckinghamshire's workforce is highly skilled and highly employable, resulting in very low levels of unemployment within the county, when compared to both regional and national figures.

Over 1/3 of the population hold a university qualification at degree level or higher, compared to 1/4 across the United Kingdom as a whole. The majority of the labour pool is employed within the service industry, primarily focused on the health and public service sectors. Large areas of growth have also taken place in finance and business services. Manufacturing maintains a strong presence.