At a celebration event on Wednesday night at Endeavour House in Ipswich, a number of young people who are looked after by the county council were applauded for successfully completing their compulsory schooling this summer. The 16 young people attending from all over Suffolk were presented with certificates of achievement and gift vouchers by Councillor Rebecca Hopfensperger and Rosalind Turner, director for children and young people. The young people, accompanied by some carers and parents, met county councillors and staff from children and young people's services and enjoyed a buffet meal.

Commenting on their achievements, Councillor Rebecca Hopfensperger said, "We are very proud of the children and young people that we look after, particularly as they achieve a higher average at GCSE than the national average for Looked After Children. Some of these children have faced major obstacles to learning, and to have overcome those obstacles and come out with good qualifications should be recognised and applauded by all of us."

This year 19% of young people in Suffolk in the council's care achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, the national figure is between 12 to 13%. This is a significant achievement and reflects well on these children and young people. This year, 77% of Suffolk's looked after children achieved at least one grade at GCSE, an increase of 10% over last year and well above previous national average figures of around 64%. Schools have designated staff who work with Suffolk's Looked After Children Education Support Service to help these young people study consistently at school, but the credit is to the young people themselves, for their determination and effort.

This was a private event at the request of the young people. They expressed the wish to celebrate quietly and to meet together to share their experiences.