The area can be proud of its scholastic record, having proved that standards are high throughout and that learning is taken seriously. By way of illustration, 66.5% of 15 year old pupils in schools maintained by Buckinghamshire’s Local Education Authority achieve more than 5 or more A star to C grades in GCSE/GNVQ. In England, the average is 52.9%. The proportion of pupils in Aylesbury Vale who are educated to degree level or higher stands at 23.5%, whereas in England and Wales the comparable figure is 19.8%.
There are four tertiary educational establishments serving the area including two universities. The University of Buckingham, the only private university in the UK, whose academic departments include business, education, information systems and law, is based in the north of the county. Buckinghamshire New University offers a range of innovative courses, focusing on the creative industries, the public sector, management and leisure. Aylesbury College, which has just replaced the existing campus on Oxford Road with two new buildings. The College offers a range of courses from catering to accounting, hospitality to computer studies, and offers life-long learning opportunities to the community as well as vocational training. The fourth tertiary educational establishment is the University Centre for Aylesbury Vale, an initiative which embraces the University of Bedfordshire too.
In planning for growth, Aylesbury Vale District Council and Buckinghamshire County Council are working together to ensure that schools are integrated within the housing developments scheduled for the area.
