Leeds Metropolitan District is the second largest authority in England with a population of around 715,000. It is the largest employment centre in West Yorkshire, with about 387,000 people in Employment.

The majority are employed in the service sector (Distribution, Catering & Hospitality, Banking, Finance, Insurance, Public Administration, Education and Health) although manufacturing and construction are also large employment areas. The main growth areas continue to be in finance, business and legal services. Leeds has an unemployment level of about 3%.

Leeds has 40 Local Education Authority (LEA) maintained secondary schools, six Specialist Inclusive Learning Centres (SILCs), five independent schools with sixth forms, six further education colleges, one Catholic sixth form college, 34 Work Based Learning providers (WBL), several Entry to Employment (e2e) providers (Lead Partner for e2e is igen Future Pathways). There are also five Family Learning Centres (FLCs) and four City Learning Centres (CLCs). Leeds has two universities and three higher education institutions.

Partnership Working

Leeds has a rapidly developing city-wide network of Local Delivery Partnerships (LDPs) that are starting to take responsibility for the development, planning and delivery of learning within a local area. Over three quarters of schools along with several FE colleges and other providers are now involved in these partnerships.

For further information on LDPs and contact details see www.educationleeds.co.uk/14to19

Leeds is heavily involved in the delivery of vocational and work-related, work-based learning pathways to key stage 4 learners. For details of some courses delivered visit www.vocationallearningleeds.org

Last year Leeds had over 2,500 learners on 14-16 vocational courses delivered by external providers across the City.

The information on all 14-16 courses offered by WBL Providers in Leeds can be found and downloaded from this website.

Develop and Implement Strategies

• To deliver the WYLP Ltd Strategic Plan.
• To promote excellence in WBL.
• To develop a coordinated central WBL representation within Leeds.
• To increase active participation of the WYLP Leeds Network         
• To promote the quality and image of WBL across the Leeds area.
• Promote the sharing of Good Practice and work effectively with all partners.

Network Support

• Learning & Training by supporting the improvement of quality training across all providers.
• Increase active participation from members and key partners at our WYLP Network Meetings.
• Recruitment, Retention & achievement of learners by developing effective networking and encouraging collaboration across WBL and key partners to improve recruitment, retention and achievement.
• Assessment, Monitoring & Evaluation by developing effective monitoring systems to gauge progress of collaborative work across WBL.
• Support & Guidance by dissemination of good practice and actively promoting the  young people’s entitlement to learning
• Participation and Progression by actively being involved in the development of the 14-19 curriculum, including the regular attendance at Strategic Meetings in Leeds, to ensure the profile of WBL is raised in the promotion of academic, vocational and occupational routes and meeting individual learner needs.
• Develop & Increase quality WBL 14-16 provision and delivery across the Leeds Area.
• Work with our member providers to produce quality marketing materials which are effective in promoting all WBL activities and raising the profile to Schools, Learners, Careers Advisers, PA’s, Employers, Parents and other key partners and stakeholders
• Work closely with Aim Higher colleagues to raise the profile of opportunities for WBL Learners to access appropriate courses in Higher Education