Destinations of students after 16 to 18 study

Published

Last updated 4 March 2021 - see all updates

1. Main facts and figures

  • 81% of students went into education, apprenticeships or employment for at least 2 terms after reaching the end of 16 to 18 study (including A levels) in July 2017
  • 47% continued their education, 25% went into employment and 10% went into apprenticeships
  • students from the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to go into education, apprenticeships or employment
  • the percentages of Asian, Black and White students going into education, apprenticeships or employment were all above the national average
  • White British students were the most likely to go into employment (29%) and apprenticeships (11%) out of all ethnic groups
  • the ethnic groups most likely to have no sustained education, apprenticeships or employment were White Gypsy Roma (34%) and Traveller of Irish Heritage (33%) – however, these results are less reliable due to small numbers of students

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

The data shows what students did after finishing A levels and other 16 to 18 study in state-funded mainstream schools and colleges in England.

The data includes students who took qualifications between entry level and level 3 when they were 16 to 18 years old.

The destinations are based on what students did in the following academic year. They show whether students:

  • stayed in education
  • went into employment
  • took an apprenticeship
  • had no sustained destination – this might include people who went into employment, an apprenticeship or further study but not continuously for 6 months

There is an extra category to show where this information was not recorded.

Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.

The ethnic groups used in the data

The data uses the ethnic groups from the 2001 Census, with 2 exceptions:

  • there are separate categories for White Irish Traveller and White Gypsy and Roma children
  • students in the Chinese ethnic group are in a separate category from Asian students

The ethnicity was not known for about 2% of students in the most recent year.

Methodology

Read the detailed methodology document (PDF opens in a new window or tab) for the data on this page.

Not all destinations could be recorded – for example, a student’s destination would not be known if they went into work or study abroad or attended a school or college in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Destinations were recorded for 94% of students overall, although this figure varied by ethnic group. For example, destinations were recorded for 95% of White British students, compared with 76% of White Gypsy and Roma students.

3. By ethnicity

Location:
England
Time period:
2017 to 2018 academic year
Source:
Destinations of KS4 and 16 to 18 (KS5) students: 2018
Percentage of students going into sustained education, apprenticeships or employment after 16 to 18 study, by ethnicity
Ethnicity Education, apprenticeships or employment Education Apprenticeships Employment No sustained education/employment Unknown
% % % % % %
All 81 47 10 25 13 6
Asian 84 69 4 11 10 6
Bangladeshi 84 68 4 12 10 5
Indian 88 73 5 10 7 5
Pakistani 81 65 4 12 12 7
Asian other 85 71 3 12 9 6
Black 83 65 4 13 11 6
Black African 85 71 3 11 9 6
Black Caribbean 78 52 6 19 16 7
Black other 82 62 4 16 12 6
Chinese 87 79 2 6 5 8
Mixed 80 51 6 22 14 6
Mixed White/Asian 83 57 6 20 12 5
Mixed White/Black African 81 55 6 20 13 5
Mixed White/Black Caribbean 77 42 8 27 17 6
Mixed other 81 56 5 20 13 6
White 82 43 11 28 13 5
White British 82 42 11 29 13 5
White Irish 82 51 7 24 13 5
Gypsy/Roma 42 13 4 24 34 24
Irish Traveller 46 22 6 18 33 21
White other 78 52 4 21 12 10
Other 80 65 3 12 12 8
Unknown 55 39 2 14 13 32

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)

Summary of Destinations of students after 16 to 18 study By ethnicity Summary

Figures for the White Gypsy and Roma and Traveller of Irish Heritage ethnic groups are based on a small number of students and are less reliable as a result.

The data shows that:

  • 81% of students who reached the end of 16 to 18 study (including A levels) in July 2017 went into education, apprenticeships or employment immediately after
  • 47% continued their education, 25% went into employment and 10% went into apprenticeships
  • students from the Chinese (87%) and Indian (88%) ethnic groups were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to stay in education, apprenticeships or employment
  • the Chinese ethnic group also had the highest percentage of students staying in education (79%), followed by Indian (73%), Asian Other and Black African (both 71%)
  • 29% of White British students went into employment, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups, followed by Mixed White and Black Caribbean students (27%)
  • White British students were the most likely to go into apprenticeships (11%)
  • the White Gypsy and Roma ethnic group had the lowest percentage of students staying in education (13%), followed by the Traveller of Irish Heritage (22%)
  • the ethnic groups most likely to have no sustained education or employment were White Gypsy and Roma (34%) and Traveller of Irish Heritage (33%)

4. By ethnicity over time

Location:
England
Time period:
August 2010 to July 2018
Source:
Destinations of KS4 and 16 to 18 (KS5) students: 2018
Percentage of students going into sustained education, apprenticeships or employment after 16 to 18 study (A level or similar), by ethnicity over time
Ethnicity 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18
% % % % % % % %
All 87 88 88 89 88 90 89 88
Asian 87 87 87 88 88 89 89 89
Bangladeshi 85 86 87 89 89 91 90 90
Indian 90 90 89 91 90 91 91 90
Pakistani 85 85 85 85 85 87 87 87
Asian other 86 88 88 90 89 89 90 89
Black 86 86 87 89 89 90 90 89
Black African 87 88 88 90 90 92 91 90
Black Caribbean 85 83 84 87 87 88 88 86
Black other 87 86 88 88 87 89 89 89
Chinese 89 91 90 92 91 92 91 89
Mixed 86 87 86 88 87 89 88 87
Mixed White/Asian 87 90 88 89 88 89 89 88
Mixed White/Black African 86 87 86 88 85 89 88 87
Mixed White/Black Caribbean 86 86 86 87 87 89 87 86
Mixed other 85 87 86 87 86 88 87 86
White 87 89 88 90 89 90 89 88
White British 88 89 88 90 89 90 89 89
White Irish 87 90 87 88 88 89 90 88
Gypsy/Roma 90 82 62 76 73 78 75 77
Irish Traveller 95 87 89 65 95 65 65 72
White other 84 86 85 86 85 87 85 83
Other 84 85 85 87 87 88 88 87
Unknown 73 74 80 81 80 81 75 56

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)

Summary of Destinations of students after 16 to 18 study By ethnicity over time Summary

This data only includes students who have completed A levels or other level 3 qualifications.

The data shows that, in the 8 academic years to July 2018:

  • the percentage of students going into education, apprenticeships or employment after their A levels (or other level 3 qualifications) went up from 87% to 88%
  • the percentage going into apprenticeships increased from 4% to 7%
  • the percentage going into employment stayed at 23%
  • students from the Bangladeshi, Black African, Black Other and Asian Other ethnic groups went from having below average outcomes to having above average outcomes
  • the percentage of students from the Bangladeshi ethnic group going into education, apprenticeships or employment went up from 85% to 90%, the biggest increase out of all ethnic groups
  • students from the Chinese and Indian ethnic groups were consistently among the most likely to go into education, apprenticeships or employment

5. Data sources

Source

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

Destinations of students after 16 to 18 study (usually aged 18 years) - Spreadsheet (csv) 584 KB

This file contains: Measure, Ethnicity, Ethnicity type, Time, Time type, Geography, Geography type, Geography code, Gender, Gender type, Qualification level, Destination, Value, Value type, Denominator, Numerator

Publication release date: 7 July 2020

Updated: 4 March 2021

full page history
  1. Moved all contextual information to ‘Things you need to know’ and new subsections. Increased visibility by adding it to the table of contents. Removed any duplication and added links to content about understanding our data. Charts, tables and the data file have not been updated.
  2. Updated with the latest available data.

From: Department for Education

Previous editions:
  1. Edition published on 14 May 2019
  2. Edition published on 14 May 2019
  3. Edition published on 5 March 2018
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