Editing North East England (section)

===College===
{{more citations needed|date=January 2023|reason=Uses reasonably well, improving and worst performing with no references}}
[[File:QESFC.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|left|[[Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College|QE Sixth Form College]] in Darlington]]
There are sixteen [[further education]] colleges in the region.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.skillsnortheast.co.uk |title=North East Skills – The Skills, Trades and Expertise from Leeds to Newcastle |publisher=Skillsnortheast.co.uk |access-date=7 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525210844/http://skillsnortheast.co.uk/ |archive-date=25 May 2013 }}</ref> The main such colleges are [[East Durham College]], [[Newcastle College]], [[New College Durham]], [[Darlington College]], [[Gateshead College]], [[Bishop Auckland College]], [[Stockton Riverside College]], [[Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College]], [[Hartlepool College of Further Education]], [[Middlesbrough College]], [[Northern School of Art and Design]] and [[Sunderland College]]. {{citation needed|date=September 2012}}

North East LEAs at A-level are improving,{{when|date=May 2023}} but produce results below those of other areas of England. Sunderland performed the best in 2011, with consistently good results, followed by Hartlepool and Darlington, which are above the national average, and unrepresentative of most areas in the North East. Darlington's [[Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College]] is one of the highest-rated colleges in England. The area's [[Catholic school]]s all do reasonably well at A level. Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland and Newcastle were also above England's average.

Many of region's colleges provide [[higher education]] validated by a university.