Destinations of school pupils after GCSEs (and equivalent qualifications)
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1. Main facts and figures
- 94% of pupils went into education, apprenticeships or employment for at least 2 terms after finishing their GCSEs (or equivalent) in July 2017
- 5% of pupils had no sustained education, apprenticeship or employment, and the destination was unknown for 1%
- in nearly every ethnic group, over 90% of pupils went into education, apprenticeships or employment – this is except for the White Gypsy and Roma (67%) and Traveller of Irish heritage (72%) ethnic groups, but the small number of pupils makes this data less reliable
- the percentage of Mixed White and Black Caribbean, and White British pupils who stayed in education after July 2017 was lower than the national average
- the percentage of pupils going into education, apprenticeships or employment has increased from 89% in the school year ending July 2011
- in every ethnic group except White Gypsy and Roma, a higher percentage of pupils went into education, apprenticeships or employment compared with the school year ending July 2011
- pupils from the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups were consistently the most likely out of all ethnic groups to go into education, apprenticeships or employment
Things you need to know
This data only includes the immediate destinations of pupils in the year after finishing their GCSEs or other key stage 4 study. It doesn’t assess the quality of the education or employment, whether work or study is full or part time, the level of pay, or the level of study.
The data comes from:
- administrative sources recording enrolment in schools and colleges in England and universities in the UK
- matched tax and benefit data
- some local authority records of young people's activity
Not all destinations could be captured – for example, a pupil’s destination would not be known if they went into work or study overseas or attended a school or college in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Destinations were captured for 97% to 99% of all ethnic groups except Gypsy and Roma (90%) and Traveller of Irish Heritage pupils (94%).
In the year ending July 2015, an additional data source was introduced which increased employment outcomes by around one percentage point.
What the data measures
This data shows the destinations of pupils who completed their GCSEs and other key stage 4 qualifications in state-funded mainstream schools in England in July 2017.
The destinations are based on what pupils did in the first 2 terms of the following academic year (October 2017 to March 2018). There is a delay in the reporting of pupils’ destinations because of the time it takes to match and process the data.
The total of all pupils who completed key stage 4 was used to calculate percentages of outcomes for each category.
Key stage 4 covers school years 10 and 11, when children are aged 14 to 16 years. Most pupils work towards national qualifications, usually GCSEs.
The data shows destinations by ethnic group for 8 school years to the year ending July 2018.
There are 4 main categories that show whether pupils:
- stayed in education – they must have been studying for 6 months from October to March immediately after key stage 4 (students who combined education and employment are counted as being in education)
- went into an apprenticeship – they must have started an apprenticeship at any point in the year and continued it for at least 6 months
- went into employment or training – they must have been employed in 5 out of 6 months from October to March, and been in employment or training in April, if they weren’t in March
- didn’t stay in education or go into employment for at least 2 terms – this includes pupils who completed some education or employment from October to March, but for less than the required time
There’s an extra category (‘unknown’) to show where this information wasn’t recorded.
The ethnic categories used in this data
This data uses the ethnic categories used in the school census.
2. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | Education, apprenticeships or employment | Education | Apprenticeships | Employment | No sustained education/employment | Unknown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| All | 94 | 87 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Asian | 96 | 94 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Bangladeshi | 96 | 95 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Indian | 97 | 96 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Pakistani | 94 | 92 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Asian other | 96 | 95 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Black | 95 | 93 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Black African | 96 | 94 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Black Caribbean | 93 | 89 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Black other | 93 | 90 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Chinese | 98 | 97 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Mixed | 93 | 88 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 94 | 90 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 93 | 89 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 91 | 84 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| Mixed other | 94 | 90 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| White | 94 | 85 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| White British | 94 | 85 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| White Irish | 94 | 88 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Gypsy/Roma | 67 | 56 | 2 | 8 | 23 | 10 |
| Irish Traveller | 72 | 58 | 10 | 5 | 22 | 6 |
| White other | 92 | 89 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| Other | 93 | 92 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Unknown | 91 | 83 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Destinations of school pupils after GCSEs (and equivalent qualifications) By ethnicity Summary
Figures for the White Gypsy and Roma and Traveller of Irish Heritage ethnic groups are based on a small number of pupils and are less reliable as a result.
The data shows that:
- 87% of pupils who finished their GCSEs (or other key stage 4 qualifications) in July 2017 went into education immediately after
- 4% went into apprenticeships, 3% went into employment and 5% had no sustained education or employment
- pupils from the Chinese (97%) and Indian (96%) ethnic groups were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to stay in education
- 6% of White British pupils went into apprenticeships, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups after Traveller of Irish Heritage (which has very small pupil numbers)
- pupils from the Chinese ethnic group were the least likely to go into employment, at less than 0.5% (this shows as 0% in the table due to rounding)
- the percentage of Mixed White and Black Caribbean (84%), and White British (85%) pupils who went into education was lower than the average
- White Gypsy and Roma pupils were the least likely to stay in education (56%), followed by Traveller of Irish Heritage pupils (58%)
- White Gypsy and Roma pupils were the most likely to have no sustained employment or education (23%) and most likely to go into employment (8%) – the percentages for Traveller of Irish Heritage pupils were 22% and 5%
3. By ethnicity over time
| Ethnicity | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| All | 89 | 89 | 91 | 92 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 94 |
| Asian | 93 | 92 | 94 | 95 | 95 | 96 | 96 | 96 |
| Bangladeshi | 92 | 91 | 93 | 95 | 94 | 96 | 96 | 96 |
| Indian | 95 | 96 | 96 | 97 | 97 | 98 | 98 | 97 |
| Pakistani | 90 | 90 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 94 |
| Asian other | 94 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 96 | 96 | 96 |
| Black | 91 | 91 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 95 |
| Black African | 93 | 92 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 96 |
| Black Caribbean | 89 | 89 | 92 | 93 | 93 | 93 | 93 | 93 |
| Black other | 89 | 91 | 93 | 93 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 93 |
| Chinese | 97 | 97 | 97 | 98 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 98 |
| Mixed | 88 | 89 | 90 | 92 | 93 | 93 | 93 | 93 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 91 | 91 | 93 | 93 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 94 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 87 | 89 | 91 | 93 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 93 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 86 | 86 | 87 | 89 | 91 | 91 | 91 | 91 |
| Mixed other | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 94 | 93 | 93 | 94 |
| White | 89 | 89 | 90 | 92 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 94 |
| White British | 89 | 89 | 90 | 92 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 94 |
| White Irish | 89 | 89 | 92 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 94 | 94 |
| Gypsy/Roma | 67 | 61 | 62 | 68 | 68 | 65 | 66 | 67 |
| Irish Traveller | 60 | 50 | 62 | 55 | 67 | 69 | 73 | 72 |
| White other | 90 | 89 | 91 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 93 | 92 |
| Other | 91 | 90 | 92 | 93 | 93 | 93 | 93 | 93 |
| Unknown | 86 | 88 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 90 | 90 | 91 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Destinations of school pupils after GCSEs (and equivalent qualifications) By ethnicity over time Summary
Figures for the White Gypsy and Roma and Traveller of Irish Heritage ethnic groups are based on a small number of pupils and are less reliable as a result.
The data shows that, in the 8 academic years to July 2018:
- the percentage of pupils going into education, apprenticeships or employment went up from 89% to 94%
- the percentage of pupils going into education, apprenticeships or employment went up in every ethnic group except White Gypsy and Roma
- the percentage of Mixed White and Black African pupils going into education, apprenticeships or employment went up from 87% to 93%, the biggest increase out of all ethnic groups (except the Traveller of Irish Heritage group, which is based on small numbers)
- pupils from the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups were consistently the most likely to go into education, apprenticeships or employment
- the percentages of White Gypsy and Roma and Traveller of Irish Heritage pupils going into education, apprenticeships or employment were consistently the lowest out of all ethnic groups
4. Methodology
Data from the national pupil database (NPD) is used to calculate education destinations. The NPD links pupil and student characteristics (for example, age, gender, and ethnicity) to school and college learning aims and attainment information for children in schools in England.
The following data sources have been used to determine pupils’ education destinations:
- individualised learner records covering English further education providers and specialist post-16 institutions
- the school census covering English schools (including pupil referral units)
- awarding body data
- alternative provision census
- Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) data covering UK universities
Since the 2014 to 2015 school year, employment data and out-of-work benefit data has been linked to the national pupil database to form the longitudinal education outcomes (LEO) dataset. Along with local authority data, LEO data is used to calculate employment destinations.
HM Revenue and Customs supplies employment data, and the Department for Work and Pensions supplies out-of-work benefit data.
For all years, information on employment, training, and NEET (not in education, employment or training) comes from local authority data from the National Client Caseload Information System (NCCIS).
The matching of these databases was done using personal characteristics such as name, date of birth and postcode.
These statistics shown only include pupils who went to state-funded mainstream schools.
Suppression rules and disclosure control
The Code of Practice for Statistics requires the Department for Education (DfE) to take reasonable steps to ensure that their published or disseminated statistics protect confidentiality.
For more information about DfE’s disclosure control procedures for its statistical releases please see DfE’s statistical policy statement on confidentiality.
Rounding
No rounding is applied to pupil numbers in the data download. Percentages are calculated using unrounded data.
Quality and methodology information
5. Data sources
Source
Destinations of KS4 and 16 to 18 (KS5) students: 2018
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
Department for Education
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The data is collected to help provide clear and comparable information on the success of schools and colleges in helping their students continue in education or employment.
6. Download the data
This file contains: Measure, Ethnicity, Ethnicity type, Time, Time type, Geography, Geography type, Geography code, Gender, Gender type, Destination, Value, Value type, Denominator, Numerator