Gender
There is a 5 percentage point gender gap for all students leaving 16 to 18 study and going into any sustained destination, 84% of females achieved a sustained destination compared to 79% for males.
The gender gap widens to 8 percentage points when looking at disadvantaged students – 76% of disadvantaged females progress to a sustained destination, compared with 68% of disadvantaged males.
Females were more likely to enter higher education (39% of females compared to 31% of males), while males were more likely to take up apprenticeships (11% of males compared to 8% of females).
Disadvantage
Disadvantage and free school meal status
Both disadvantage and free school meal eligibility are based on information recorded when students were in year 11.
Students were considered disadvantaged in year 11 and attracted pupil premium funding if they had been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years, had been looked after by the local authority, or had been adopted from care. Students eligible for free school meals are a subset of the wider disadvantaged group.
Of all the state-funded mainstream students reaching the end of 16 to 18 study in 2016/17, at all levels, 24% were disadvantaged in year 11. Disadvantaged students were overrepresented in the groups studying qualifications below level 3. Of the students taking mainly level 2 qualifications, 34% were disadvantaged. For the group below level 2, 39% were disadvantaged.
Overall, disadvantaged students were less likely to have a sustained destination compared to all other students, 72% and 84% respectively.
Disadvantaged students were also less likely to go to higher education (25% compared to 38% of all others) and more likely to go to further education (13% compared to 9% for all others), studying courses at level 3 and below.
The two groups were similarly likely to go into employment, 24% for disadvantaged students compared to 26% for all others.
Ethnicity
There is relatively little variation by major ethnic group in the proportion of students with a sustained destination overall. Students of mixed ethnic background were the least likely to have a sustained destination (80%), while Chinese students had the highest rate at 87%. Students of white ethnic background, who make up the majority of the cohort, were one percentage point above the national average of 81%.
There is considerable variation in the types of activity students of different ethnic groups take after leaving 16 to 18 study. Between 65% and 79% of students of Black, Asian, and Chinese ethnic origin continued in education following 16 to 18 study. Students of white and mixed ethnic backgrounds were less likely to continue in education (43% and 51% respectively) and more likely to take up work and apprenticeships.
Only 17% of disadvantaged students of white ethnic origin went to higher education, well below the national average for disadvantaged students (25%).
