The publication methodology, available on the publication report, should be referenced alongside this data. It provides information on the data sources, their coverage and quality as well as explaining methodology used in producing the data.
Coverage
This release provides information on destinations from:
state-funded mainstream schools and colleges
state-funded special schools (including non-maintained special schools)
independent schools
This information is based on data from the National Pupil Database and the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset.
File formats and conventions
The Code of Practice for Statistics requires us to take reasonable steps to ensure that our published or disseminated statistics protect confidentiality. Where appropriate we apply disclosure control to protect confidentiality.
The following symbols have been used in this publication:
( 0 ) zero
( c ) small number suppressed to preserve confidentiality or for accountability reasons
( z ) not applicable
(x) not available
( low ) positive % less than 0.5
Small cohorts
At institutional level, where cohorts are less than 6, all data are suppressed. This is to ensure that schools are not held to account for small cohorts of pupils rather than for confidentiality reasons.
This does not apply to levels of data other than institutional level.
Data files
All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.
16-18 study leavers national level destinations
Filename
1618_dm_ud_202223_nat_rev.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2010/11 to 2022/23
Content
16-18 study leavers national level destinations data by student characteristics, provider type and qualification level
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
all_notsust
Not recorded as a sustained destination
all_unknown
Activity not captured
all_work
Sustained employment destination
appl2
Intermediate apprenticeships (level 2)
appl3
Advanced apprenticeships (level 3)
appl4
Higher and degree apprenticeships (level 4 and above)
appren
Sustained apprenticeships
breakdown
Student characteristics
cohort
Number of pupils completing 16-18 study
cohort_level
Qualification levels
data_type
Data type
edu_combo
Sustained education combination destination
education
Sustained education destination
fe
Further education
fel1
FE entry level and no identified level
fel2
FE Level 2
fel3
FE Level 3
he
UK higher education institution
ind
Independent schools
inst_count
Number of institutions
institution_type
Institution group
non_des
Non-designated provision
notsust
Education or employment not sustained
notsust_ben
Education or employment not sustained and known to be in receipt of out of work benefits
only_ben
No participation and known to be in receipt of out of work benefits
other_edu
Other education destinations
overall
Sustained education, apprenticeship or employment
sfc
Sixth form college
spec_prov
Specialist provision
ssf
School sixth form - state funded
unknown
Not identified in any data
unknown_id
Identified as DWP/HMRC customer
Footnotes
All schools includes all local authority maintained mainstream schools, sponsored academies, converter academies, free schools, university technical colleges (UTCs), studio schools, special schools and independent schools. Also includes city technology colleges (CTCs). Alternative provision is not included.
State-funded mainstream colleges includes sixth-form colleges and other further education colleges.
Non-selective schools in highly-selective areas includes all non-selective schools in local authorities with a high level of selection (where 25% or more of state-funded secondary places are in state-funded selective schools). These local authorities are Bexley, Buckinghamshire, Kent, Lincolnshire, Medway, Poole, Slough, Southend-on-Sea, Sutton, Torbay, Trafford and Wirral. See technical note for further details.
State-funded mainstream schools also includes city technology colleges (CTCs). Figures for this institution type are not shown separately in the table. Excludes pupil referral units (PRUs), alternative provision (AP), hospital schools, maintained and non-maintained special schools, independent schools, independent special schools and independent schools approved to take pupils with special educational needs (SEN).
Other non-selective schools includes all non-selective schools that are not in highly selective areas, including those in areas with some selection.
'Not recorded as a sustained destination' includes pupils who were captured in the source data and had some participation in the academic year but did not complete the required six months sustained participation.
Other education destinations include school sixth forms, sixth-form colleges, independent schools, specialist post-16 institutions, special schools and education combination destinations.
Reforms to technical and applied qualifications mean that the makeup of level 3 and level 2 approved qualification groups differ significantly between destination years 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20. Comparisons across years and approved/other qualification groups should therefore be made with particular caution.
State-funded mainstream schools include local authority maintained schools, academies, free schools and city technology colleges.
Selective schools admit pupils wholly or mainly with reference to ability. These schools are formally designated as grammar schools. The schools status is based on admission policy in the secondary phase (i.e. age 11).
'Other qualifications' are qualifications that are not included elsewhere in the 16-18 attainment performance tables
Special schools group include all types of special schools due to the small numbers of schools.
Activity not being captured means the student was not found to have any participation in education, apprenticeship or employment nor recorded as receiving out-of-work benefits at any point in the year. Possible reasons for this could be that the pupil was living, working or studying abroad or was attending a Scottish or Welsh college or school.
Total state-funded mainstream schools and colleges covers all state-funded mainstream schools, academies, free schools, city technology colleges (CTCs), sixth-forms and other and FE sector colleges. Excludes alternative provision, special schools, other government department funded colleges and independent schools.
Other FE sector colleges excludes other government department funded colleges.
Please note data for independent schools has much lower coverage than state-funded schools. This is likely to be due to difficulties linking their education records to employment data.
Total for all schools and colleges includes all mainstream and special schools and colleges.
Local authority maintained includes community, voluntary aided, voluntary controlled and foundation schools.
State-funded mainstream colleges excludes other government department funded colleges.
The way we decide when a student is at the end of 16 to 18 study changed for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 cohorts. This change means the make up of these cohorts are different to previous years, and also to each other due to effects from the transition from the old criteria to the new. As such any comparison to previous years should be avoided.
16-18 study leavers local authority level destinations
Filename
1618_dm_ud_202223_la_rev.csv
Geographic levels
Local authority; Local authority district; Opportunity area; Parliamentary constituency; Regional
Time period
2010/11 to 2022/23
Content
16-18 study leavers local authority level destinations data by location, student characteristics, provider type and qualification level
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
all_notsust
Not recorded as a sustained destination
all_unknown
Activity not captured
all_work
Sustained employment destination
appl2
Intermediate apprenticeships (level 2)
appl3
Advanced apprenticeships (level 3)
appl4
Higher and degree apprenticeships (level 4 and above)
appren
Sustained apprenticeships
breakdown
Student characteristic
cohort
Number of pupils completing 16-18 study
cohort_level_group
Qualification level
data_type
Data type
education
Sustained education destination
fe
Further education
fel1
FE entry level and no identified level
fel2
FE Level 2
fel3
FE Level 3
he
UK higher education institution
institution_group
Institution group
level_methodology
Level based on LEA area or provider location
other_edu
Other education destinations
overall
Sustained education, apprenticeship or employment
Footnotes
State-funded mainstream colleges includes sixth-form colleges and other further education colleges.
State-funded mainstream schools also includes city technology colleges (CTCs). Figures for this institution type are not shown separately in the table. Excludes pupil referral units (PRUs), alternative provision (AP), hospital schools, maintained and non-maintained special schools, independent schools, independent special schools and independent schools approved to take pupils with special educational needs (SEN).
'Not recorded as a sustained destination' includes pupils who were captured in the source data and had some participation in the academic year but did not complete the required six months sustained participation.
Other education destinations include school sixth forms, sixth-form colleges, independent schools, specialist post-16 institutions, special schools and education combination destinations.
Reforms to technical and applied qualifications mean that the makeup of level 3 and level 2 approved qualification groups differ significantly between destination years 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20. Comparisons across years and approved/other qualification groups should therefore be made with particular caution.
State-funded mainstream schools include local authority maintained schools, academies, free schools and city technology colleges.
'Other qualifications' are qualifications that are not included elsewhere in the 16-18 attainment performance tables
Activity not being captured means the student was not found to have any participation in education, apprenticeship or employment nor recorded as receiving out-of-work benefits at any point in the year. Possible reasons for this could be that the pupil was living, working or studying abroad or was attending a Scottish or Welsh college or school.
Total state-funded mainstream schools and colleges covers all state-funded mainstream schools, academies, free schools, city technology colleges (CTCs), sixth-forms and other and FE sector colleges. Excludes alternative provision, special schools, other government department funded colleges and independent schools.
State-funded mainstream colleges excludes other government department funded colleges.
The way we decide when a student is at the end of 16 to 18 study changed for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 cohorts. This change means the make up of these cohorts are different to previous years, and also to each other due to effects from the transition from the old criteria to the new. As such any comparison to previous years should be avoided.
16-18 study leavers institution level destinations
Filename
1618_dm_ud_202223_inst_rev.csv
Geographic levels
School
Time period
2022/23
Content
16-18 study leavers institution level destinations data by location, student characteristics and provider type and qualification level
Variable names and descriptions
Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:
Variable name
Variable description
all_notsust
Not recorded as a sustained destination
all_unknown
Activity not captured
all_work
Sustained employment destination
appren
Sustained apprenticeships
breakdown
Student characteristic
cohort
Number of pupils completing 16-18 study
cohort_level_group
Qualification level
data_type
Data type
education
Sustained education destination
fe
Further education
he
UK higher education institution
institution_group
Institution group
other_edu
Other education destinations
overall
Sustained education, apprenticeship or employment
Footnotes
State-funded mainstream colleges includes sixth-form colleges and other further education colleges.
State-funded mainstream schools also includes city technology colleges (CTCs). Figures for this institution type are not shown separately in the table. Excludes pupil referral units (PRUs), alternative provision (AP), hospital schools, maintained and non-maintained special schools, independent schools, independent special schools and independent schools approved to take pupils with special educational needs (SEN).
'Not recorded as a sustained destination' includes pupils who were captured in the source data and had some participation in the academic year but did not complete the required six months sustained participation.
Other education destinations include school sixth forms, sixth-form colleges, independent schools, specialist post-16 institutions, special schools and education combination destinations.
Reforms to technical and applied qualifications mean that the makeup of level 3 and level 2 approved qualification groups differ significantly between destination years 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20. Comparisons across years and approved/other qualification groups should therefore be made with particular caution.
State-funded mainstream schools include local authority maintained schools, academies, free schools and city technology colleges.
'Other qualifications' are qualifications that are not included elsewhere in the 16-18 attainment performance tables
Special schools group include all types of special schools due to the small numbers of schools.
Activity not being captured means the student was not found to have any participation in education, apprenticeship or employment nor recorded as receiving out-of-work benefits at any point in the year. Possible reasons for this could be that the pupil was living, working or studying abroad or was attending a Scottish or Welsh college or school.
Please note data for independent schools has much lower coverage than state-funded schools. This is likely to be due to difficulties linking their education records to employment data.
State-funded mainstream colleges excludes other government department funded colleges.
The way we decide when a student is at the end of 16 to 18 study changed for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 cohorts. This change means the make up of these cohorts are different to previous years, and also to each other due to effects from the transition from the old criteria to the new. As such any comparison to previous years should be avoided.