THE amount of 16 and 17 year olds in education or training in Worcestershire has risen by nearly five per cent since December last year.

New figures released on Thursday by the Department for Education show that, as of March 2015, 90.1 per cent of young people across the county are in education or training.

This is a significant improvement from the 68.9 per cent of young people that was reported in December 2013 and a further improvement on the 88.1 per cent reported in December last year.

Worcestershire County Council believes this increase is largely due to the improved range of education and training opportunities available to young people, as well as the support given to young people by their families, schools and professionals.

Councillor John Campion, cabinet member for Children and Families, said: "It's great to see this significant improvement in the number of young people taking part in education or training. We had some disappointing figures in 2013 but have since developed our reporting tools and improved our relationships with schools and colleges and these newly released figures are the best we have seen in the past three years.

"Improving outcomes for young people is one of our highest priorities so it's great to see that the range of opportunities available, as well as the support received from families and professionals, is encouraging more young people to further their education or training."

The council also keeps better track of young people's advancement through the education system now than ever before.

Thanks to the development of new analysis tools, and improved information sharing with schools and colleges, the council now knows the status of 95.6 per cent of 16 and 17 year olds across the county.

In 2014, the status of 93 per cent of 16 and 17 year olds was known by the council.