Data set from A level and other 16 to 18 results

Retention - student characteristics

Latest data

Published 27 March 2025

Last updated 27 March 2025

Retention metrics by student characteristic. Student characteristics include sex, ethnicity, disadvantage status, free school meal provision, first language, special educational needs (SEN) provision, and KS4 prior attainment.

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Data set details

• Theme: School and college outcomes and performance
• Publication: A level and other 16 to 18 results
• Release: Academic year 2023/24
• Geographic levels: National
• Indicators:
  • Number of students
  • % retained
  • % retained and assessed
• Filters:
  • Characteristic
  • Cohort
• Time period: 2019/20 to 2023/24

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Data set preview

Table showing first 5 rows, from underlying data

time_period	time_identifier	geographic_level	country_code	country_name	version	characteristic_type	characteristic_value	exam_cohort	level_of_study	student_count_year_1	student_count_year_2	retained	retained_and_assessed	returned_and_retained	perc_retained	perc_retained_and_assessed	perc_returned_and_retained
201920	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Final	Sex	Female	A level	Level 3	128190	125721	118420	116569	111957	92.379	90.935	89.052
202021	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Final	Sex	Female	A level	Level 3	123674	122680	116646	115728	113809	94.317	93.575	92.769
202122	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Revised	Sex	Female	A level	Level 3	126737	126141	120576	119666	118474	95.139	94.421	93.922
202223	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Revised	Sex	Female	A level	Level 3	130587	129854	122143	121007	119856	93.534	92.664	92.301
202324	Academic year	National	E92000001	England	Revised	Sex	Female	A level	Level 3	133685	132968	123008	122033	120571	92.013	91.284	90.677

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Variables in this data set

Table showing first 5 of 7 variables

Variable name	Variable description
characteristic_value	Characteristic
exam_cohort	Cohort
perc_retained	% retained
perc_retained_and_assessed	% retained and assessed
perc_returned_and_retained	% returned and retained for a second year

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Footnotes

1. Figures for the total number of students may not match the sum of females and males, as not all institutions recorded the sex for every student.
2. Disadvantage status is as reported at the end of key stage 4. Analysis involving disadvantage status includes students at state-funded schools and colleges only.
3. EHC plans and statements of SEN are legal documents which detail the needs of the individual student, and the assistance they are to receive.
4. A change to the trigger rules was introduced in 2020/21 such that students were no longer automatically reported after two years in 16-18 study. The introduction caused a fall in cohort size, particularly within the vocational and technical cohorts. A full impact analysis can be found in the methodology document.

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