Education

In addition to the schools supported by the local education authorities, the region can offer a range of private schools and colleges for young people. There are also private sector junior schooling facilities available together with a wide range of nurseries and child care providers. Welsh Government is committed to continuous improvement in the standards of education throughout Welsh schools key to this aim is increasing the number of 15 year olds achieving 5 or more GCSE's at grades A*-C (currently 67%) and 17 year olds achieving 2 or more A levels. Education beyond GCSE level is increasingly geared to demand driven providing a ‘work ready’ generation of students, this means that many courses are geared to giving employers the skills set they require.

Whilst most young people attend state schools the region has a number of private education establishments, the independent Schools Council provides details of all independent schools within South East Wales including Monmouth school for Boys and Rougemont in Newport. In addition Atlantic College in Llantwit Major offers the International Baccalaureate.

South East Wales is home to seven Further education colleges and four major higher education Universities, each with its own reputation for excellence in their specialist fields. Cardiff Metropolitan University (formerly UWIC) is world renowned for its sporting programmes; the University of Glamorgan’s Business School is regarded as one the best in the country, Cardiff’s reputation for research and development, particularly in medicine, engineering and design is second to none and the University of Wales, Newport is held in high regard for its Art, media and design and IT courses, including Games Design, as well as its part-time, postgraduate and professional studies. Over 80% of all graduates from South East Wales universities are in full time employment in South East Wales within six months of graduation.