England & Wales Census, 2011
Just got the new census form, and as a keen family historian I could hardly wait to check out the questions. The first thing that strikes me about it is this:
The list of qualifications has to be filled in by anyone aged sixteen or over. The problem with that is that on census night, roughly fifty percent of all sixteen year olds in England & Wales will still be in Year 11. They will not be allowed to leave school for another three months, and only a very few will as yet have any qualifications at all (normally one or two GCSEs at most, taken last Autumn), because most of the public exams are taken in May/June with the results announced in August.
So be prepared for scare stories about how poorly-qualified sixteen-year-olds are, written by newspapers - you know which ones they are - of very little brain.
The list of qualifications has to be filled in by anyone aged sixteen or over. The problem with that is that on census night, roughly fifty percent of all sixteen year olds in England & Wales will still be in Year 11. They will not be allowed to leave school for another three months, and only a very few will as yet have any qualifications at all (normally one or two GCSEs at most, taken last Autumn), because most of the public exams are taken in May/June with the results announced in August.
So be prepared for scare stories about how poorly-qualified sixteen-year-olds are, written by newspapers - you know which ones they are - of very little brain.