Standards in education in York sets the city apart from other northern cities, from primary school years to university degrees and everything in between.

York consistently proves itself as an educated city, and is currently ranked as the seventh most educated in the UK.

Statistics from the Centre For Cities report reveals 41.3 per cent of York’s working-age population has qualifications at NVQ level 4 or above. The figure compares with a national average of 34.2 per cent.

York also has the seventh lowest percentage of its workingage population having no formal qualifications, with the figure standing at 6.5 per cent.

North Yorkshire County Council was ranked 15 out of 151 authorities nationally for the number of pupils gaining five or more GCSE A*-C grades in 2013, well within the top ten per cent.

Archbishop Holgate’s School and Sixth Form in Hull Road came out top in a league table published by the Department of Education, of exam results at 400 state and independent schools across the country.

The average point score achieved by students was 1051.6, well ahead of the school in second place, which achieved 1010.9.

Across the city, the percentage of pupils gaining five or more A*–C grades at GCSE including English and maths at York schools was 67 per cent, well above the national average of 59.2 per cent.

In North Yorkshire at GCSE, more than 65 per cent of pupils achieved five A*-C results including English and maths for the second consecutive year, meaning the authority came 29th out of 151 local authorities.

York is home to 24,000 students, who attend its two universities and further education colleges.

While the universities specialise in a wide variety of subjects, other vital trades are taught at York College and Askham Bryan Agricultural College.

Askham Bryan, which also has a site at Newton Rigg near Penrith, is planning to invest a total of £34 million in its York campus, which runs courses in agriculture, animal management, equine management, engineering, motor sport, horticulture, food technology, arboriculture, floristry, environmental management, highways maintenance, plant maintenance and general education.

It plans to create a new wildlife and conservation centre and a new canine centre with a veterinary nursing suite, hydrotherapy, dog grooming and kennels along with a cattery.

Student numbers at the college trebled from 800 full-time students in 2007 to 2,500, plus about 3,000 part-time students in 2013.

York College is the largest provider of A Level and vocational programmes for 16 - 19 year olds in the region, offering more than 40 A-level subjects and 80 vocational programmes.

It has practical facilities for students to use their skills in the real world, including the Alan Ayckbourn Theatre, Ashfields restaurant, hair and beauty salon and spa and nail bar, which are open to the public and staffed by students.

Apprenticeships in York are growing in popularity among both employers and young people according to figures released by the National Apprenticeship Service.

The quarterly Apprenticeship Index reveals a 67 per cent increase in apprenticeship vacancies posted online on the Apprenticeship vacancies website between August and October 2013 compared to the same period last year. A total of 150 vacancies were advertised over the three months versus 90 in 2012.

Last year York bucked the national trend by creating more apprenticeships as figures from the Department for Business suggested the number of under 19s starting apprenticeships would fall in 2013 in every local authority across the north-east, apart from York and North Yorkshire.

The number starting in York in the whole of 2012 was 350, however by April last year the number had already hit 290. In North Yorkshire, there were 3,210 last year and 2,460 in the first nine months – again meaning a year-on-year rise as the trend continued.

As well as developing a highly skilled workforce, York’s educational establishments are focused on promoting and nurturing entrepreneurial skills and a spirit of enterprise.

In the past, the city has been behind the national and regional average for new business start-ups, and while the rate of growth is now outpacing other local areas, progressing those businesses into bigger VATregistered businesses remains a challenge for York.

The city’s Economic Strategy outlines ambitions to achieve an increase in business start-ups of 75 per cent per year by 2015 as part of its strategy to create 1,000 new jobs.

York St John Business School’s Acorns programme uses the resources of the city’s entrepreneurial talent to support the next generation of business-owners through training courses, as well as its enterprise clubs, which brings like-minded entrepreneurs together through networking.

In 2010, the city began to promote its entrepreneurial culture when it held the first York Business Week, arranged by public and private sector partners to coincide with Global Enterprise Week.

York Business Week, now in its fifth year, has regularly attracted 7,000 business people to more than 20 events taking place in the city, and held events to encourage students into enterprise, through special school assemblies and enterprise competitions.

York Business Week also recognises the city’s apprenticeships with a grand apprenticeship graduation ceremony held at York Minster during the week.

York’s schools work with some of the city’s largest businesses, as well as small to medium-sized enterprises, through enterprise education programmes such as Young Enterprise and NYBEP (North Yorkshire Business and Education Partnership).

Even in medieval times, York was a centre for business, and to this day, it still has seven of its ancient medieval guilds remaining.

Less hands-on in the day-today lobbying for their individual sectors, the guilds today are exclusive clubs of successful and wealthy business people which raise money for charity and help to nurture talent in their fields.

The guilds, which include Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York, the entrepreneurs guild, and The Company of Merchant Taylors, the arts and crafts guild, play a role in helping young people advance in their careers, providing enterprise education, support for apprenticeships and bursaries for further education.