This data was revised in February 2024 to include the latest available results data which is is used to identify pupils who continued their studies in independent schools. The revision led to no overall change in the national trends but it did raise sustained rates of individual providers.
The latest data in this release covers students who left key stage 4 study in 2020/21 and follows their destinations in 2021/22.
Destination measures provide information on the success of schools and colleges in helping young people continue in education, apprenticeships or employment.
These official statistics show the percentage of pupils continuing to a sustained education, apprenticeship or employment destination in England in the year after completing key stage 4 study (after year 11) from state-funded mainstream schools.
The release also provides information on destination outcomes for different groups of pupils and education providers.
This data was revised in February 2024 to include the latest available results data which is is used to identify pupils who continued their studies in independent schools. The revision led to no overall change in the national headlines but it did raise sustained rates of individual providers.
93.9%
0.2 percentage point decrease since last year
A sustained destination means at least six months recorded activity in the year following the end of key stage 4 (year 11)
86.5%
2.8 percentage point decrease since last year
Pupils who sustained an education destination for 6 months. This includes school sixth forms, sixth-form colleges, FE colleges, and other education settings.
3.4%
1.0 percentage point increase since last year
Pupils who sustained an apprenticeship destination for 6 months.
3.9%
1.5 percentage point increase since last year
Pupils who sustained an employment destination for 6 months.
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Institution level data showing the sustained destination of students in the year after completing key stage 4 study (2020/21 cohort)
As this publication is looking at activity in the first two terms of the 2021/22 academic year it was affected by the coronavirus pandemic disruption to the economy and education settings. It considers the entire academic year to determine sustained apprenticeships. Many employers and apprenticeship providers took on fewer individuals during the pandemic and so last year we saw lower sustained employment and apprenticeship destinations, this year we see an increase in both these measures and a move back to pre-2020 levels.
Destination measures provide information on the success of schools and colleges in helping young people continue in education, apprenticeships or employment.
Key stage 4 destination measures follow pupils who were at the end of key stage 4 study (GCSE and equivalent qualifications) in 2020/21, and reports their destinations in the following academic year (2021/22).
They show the percentage of pupils going to an education, apprenticeship or employment destination. To be counted in a destination, young people have to have sustained participation for a 6 month period in the destination year. Full details are provided in the methodology document that accompanies this release.
The headline statistics refer to pupils leaving state-funded mainstream schools in England.
Some pupils do not sustain their destination for at least two terms, these students are recorded as “Not recorded as a sustained destination”. Overall, there is activity information on 99% of the cohort.
Disadvantage status and pupil premium
Pupils were considered disadvantaged in year 11 and were eligible for 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. Pupils eligible for free school meals are a subset of the wider disadvantaged group. See methodology for details.
Disadvantaged pupils (those eligible for pupil premium funding) were less likely to have a sustained destination (87.8%) than all other pupils (96.0%).
The most common destination for disadvantaged pupils was further education (43.3%), compared to a school sixth form destination (25.4%) for all other pupils.
Disadvantaged pupils were more likely to enter an employment destination and less likely to go into a sustained apprenticeship than all other pupils. Disadvantaged pupils were also more likely not to sustain a destination (10.7%) compared to all other pupils (3.2%).
This was driven by female pupils being 3.7 percentage points more likely to sustain an education destination. Conversely, male pupils were more likely to sustain an apprenticeship or employment destination.
Non-disadvantaged female pupils were most likely to sustain an education, apprenticeship or employment destination. There was a 7.6 percentage points gap between non-disadvantaged female students and disadvantaged female students and 8.7 percentage points gap between non-disadvantaged male students and disadvantaged male students.
Non-disadvantaged female pupils were most likely to sustain an education destination. This was 3.9, 9.7 and 12.7 percentage points higher than non- disadvantaged males, disadvantaged females and disadvantaged males, respectively.
Non-disadvantaged male pupils were most likely to sustain an apprenticeship destination. This was 2.3, 1.9 and 2.5 percentage points higher than non-disadvantaged females, disadvantaged males and disadvantaged females, respectively.
Disadvantaged male pupils were most likely to sustain an employment destination. This was 2.0, 0.4 and 2.8 percentage points higher than non-disadvantaged males, disadvantaged females and non-disadvantaged females, respectively.
This was driven by these students being most likely to sustain an education destination. Pupils from Gypsy Roma backgrounds were least likely to sustain an education destination.
Pupils from Gypsy Roma and Traveller of Irish Heritage backgrounds were most likely to sustain employment destinations. These two groups are relatively small and their outcomes are volatile between years. Pupils from Black African, Bangladeshi, Indian, Any Other Asian and Chinese backgrounds were least likely to sustain employment destinations.
SEN support is given in school. It can include, for example, a special learning programme, extra help from a teacher or assistant, to work in a small group, observation in class or at break, help taking part in class activities etc.
Education, health and care plans (EHC) are for young people, aged up to 25, who need more support than is available through special educational needs support. EHC plans identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs.
Pupils with no identified special educational need (SEN) were most likely to sustain any destination; those pupils with SEN support were least likely to sustain an education, apprenticeship or employment destination.
87.5% of pupils with no identified SEN sustained an education destination. This was 8.0, 7.1 and 2.1 percentage points greater than pupils who had SEN support, those who had identified SEN and those who had Education Health and Care plans.
Similar proportions of pupils who had no identified SEN and those with SEN support sustained apprenticeship destinations. Those who had SEN support were most likely to sustain an employment destination.
With the East of England and Southern regions also above the national average.
92.6% of pupils from Outer London sustained an education destination, closely followed by Inner London with 92.4% of pupils . These values are 6.1 and 5.9 percentage points greater than the national average.
Pupils from the North East were most likely to sustain an apprenticeship destination, whereas Inner London had the lowest proportion of pupils sustaining an apprenticeship destination.
5.0% of pupils from the North East sustained an employment destination, whereas pupils from Inner London were least likely to sustain an employment destination.
Impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on destination measures
As this publication is looking at activity in the first two terms of the 2021/22 academic year it is affected by the COVID-19 disruption. Many employers and apprenticeship providers took on fewer individuals during the pandemic, reducing the proportion of pupils who had a sustained employment and apprenticeship destination in 2020/21.
In the 2021/22 academic year, 93.9% of pupils had a sustained education, apprenticeship or employment destination in the year after completing key stage 4. This is broadly similar to previous years.
The proportion of pupils who sustained an education destination fell by 2.8 percentage points from 2020/21 to 2021/22. This follows a 2.1 percentage point increase last year, which was the first cohort affected by COVID restrictions. The percentage progressing to an education destination, this year, was more in line with values we saw prior to COVID.
The proportion of pupils who sustained an apprenticeship or employment destination increased in 2021/22 by 1.0 and 1.5 percentage points respectively, compared to 2020/21. As with the education figures, the proportion of pupils sustaining an apprenticeship or work destination has broadly returned to levels seen prior to COVID. The 3.9% of pupils sustaining an employment destination is actually above levels observed before COVID.
Many of the pupils who did not have a sustained destination (5.2% in 2021/22) will have had some participation in the year after finishing key stage 4 but did not sustain the destination throughout the required 6 month period.
Pupils’ attainment at the end of primary school (key stage 2) and at the end of key stage 4, have a strong relationship with the likelihood of staying in education, apprenticeships or employment, and with the specific destinations to which they progress.
The measures indicating whether students have met key thresholds are published by the Department for Education as outcomes from, and accountability measures for, these key stages. Although some students make faster or slower progress during secondary school, attainment at the two key stages is closely correlated.
The prior attainment thresholds referenced reflect the policies in place at the time the cohort completed those key stages and may differ from current benchmarks.
Further information on the prior attainment levels at key stage 2 and key stage 4 can be found in the methodology section of this release.
Attainment for this cohort of students is available for two sets of assessments - the end of key stage 2 (KS2), when children take national tests in English reading, maths, and grammar, punctuation and spelling (age 11); and at the end of key stage 4 (KS4), when most pupils take GCSEs or other equivalent qualifications (age 16).
Key stage 4 attainment shows whether pupils achieved a grade of either 4 or above in English and maths GCSEs.
Data changes - Key stage 2 scaled Scores
The calculation for the prior attainment categories changed in 2020/21 as a consequence of the introduction of Key Stage 2 scaled scores in 2016. As discussed earlier, the introduction of KS2 scaled scores has had an impact on the distribution of pupils by prior attainment. In summary, the impact has been to reduce the number of pupils in the high prior attainment group and increase the number of pupils in the low and middle prior attainment groups.
This means that caution is required when comparing the results over time. The changes seen will be driven by a combination of the changed prior attainment distribution and the Ofqual’s approach to grading for 2022.
Pupils who had high prior attainment at KS2 were more likely to sustain an education, apprenticeship or employment destination than those pupils whom had middle or low prior attainment. Pupils who had high prior attainment at KS2 were more likely to sustain an education destination, but least likely to sustain an apprenticeship or employment destination.
Pupils who had low prior attainment at KS2 were most likely to sustain an apprenticeship or employment destination out of all prior attainment at KS2 groups, however they were least likely to sustain an education destination.
There was a considerable gap (19.2 percentage points) between the proportion of pupils who sustained an education destination who achieved at least grade 4 English and maths and those who did not achieve these grades.
The students who did not achieve at least grade 4 in English and maths at KS4 were more likely to sustain apprenticeship or employment destinations than students who did achieve at least grade 4.
However, for pupils with high prior attainment, disadvantaged pupils were more likely to sustain apprenticeship destinations than not disadvantaged pupils.
Disadvantaged pupils were also more likely to sustain an employment destination than not disadvantaged pupils with the same KS2 attainment.
Pupils who were disadvantaged and achieved at least grade 4 in English and maths at KS4 were 4.1 percentage points less likely to sustain an education destination than their non-disadvantaged peers. There was a 6.3 percentage point difference in the proportion of disadvantaged and not disadvantaged pupils sustaining an education destination when they had not achieved at least grade 4 in English and maths at KS4.
In a similar way, pupils who were not disadvantaged and did not achieve at least grade 4 in English and maths at KS4 were 3.0 percentage points more likely to sustain an apprenticeship destination than their disadvantaged peers.
Pupils who were disadvantaged were more likely to sustain employment destinations than their non-disadvantaged peers with the same achievement in English and maths at KS4.
Pupils from converter academies were most likely to sustain an education, apprenticeship or employment destination, whereas pupils from FE colleges with 14 to 16 provision were least likely to sustain any destination. This was driven by education destinations: 88.1% of pupils from converter academies and 63.0% from FE colleges with 14 to 16 provision sustained an education destination.
Pupils from University Technical Colleges were most likely to sustain an apprenticeship destination, this was closely followed by studio schools. Free schools had the lowest proportion of pupils sustaining an apprenticeship destination.
FE colleges with 14 to 16 provision had the highest proportion of pupils sustaining an employment destination, 6.4 percentage points higher than the national average. Pupils from free schools had the lowest proportion of pupils sustaining an employment destination.
School sixth forms were the most popular education destination across all of the institution types (37.9%), followed by Further Education (34.7%), Sixth form colleges (13.1%) and other education (0.9%).
Pupils who went to FE colleges with 14 to 16 provision, studio schools and sponsored academies were more likely to sustain further education destinations.
Few pupils sustained other education destinations (independent schools, alternative provision and special schools).
A number of pupils go to schools specifically for pupils with special educational needs – ‘special schools’. These pupils may either go to state-funded special schools, or non-maintained special schools where state-funding follows the learner. The different types of special school are not shown separately.
Of pupils in special schools, 90.3% had an overall sustained education, apprenticeship or employment destination compared to 93.9% for pupils in state-funded mainstream schools.
Over half of pupils from special schools (55.3%) stayed in the special school sector, 27.0% sustained a further education destination, whilst only 1.9% sustained an employment destination and 0.3% sustained an apprenticeship destination.
State place funded AP includes pupil referral units, academy and free school alternative provision and hospital schools.
Other alternative provision includes education funded by the local authority outside of state place funded schools, including independent schools, non-maintained special schools, and providers who do not meet the criteria for registration as a school.
Less than 2% of pupils who completed key stage 4 were mainly attending state place funded AP or other types of alternative provision. 67.1% of pupils from AP went to a sustained destination, compared with 93.6% from state-funded mainstream schools.
In 2021/22, 53.8% of pupils from AP sustained an education destination, this was 3.9 percentage points lower than 2020/21 where 57.7% of pupils from AP sustained education destinations. The majority of these pupils sustained further education destinations (29.9% for 2021/22 and 36.5% for 2020/21).
Nearly a third (28.7%) of pupils in any AP provision didn't sustain their destination for the required 6-month period, this compares to 5.2% of students from state funded mainstream schools. A larger proportion of AP pupils had no activity captured compared to mainstream pupils (4.2% compared to 1.0%).
AP pupils were more likely to go on to employment (11.2% compared to 3.9% in mainstream schools).
Similar to state-funded mainstream schools, pupils from AP were more likely to sustain apprenticeships (2.1% for 2021/22 and 1.4% for 2020/21) or employment destinations in 2021/22 than in the previous year (11.2% for 2021/22 and 7.3% for 2020/21). It is likely these findings are due to apprenticeship providers and employers taking on more staff following the lifting of the restrictions that were put in place due to COVID-19.
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These are Official Statistics and have been produced in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.
This can be broadly interpreted to mean that these statistics are:
Find out more about the standards we follow to produce these statistics through our Standards for official statistics published by DfE guidance.
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