When is a pupil considered disadvantaged?
Pupils are defined as disadvantaged if they were eligible for pupil premium when they were in Year 11 at school. This includes pupils who had:
- been eligible for free school meals at any point in the previous six years
- been looked after by their local authority for at least 1 day
- left care through adoption, a special guardianship order, or a child arrangements order (previously known as a residence order).
This information comes from local authority records and the School Census.
Disadvantage Status
The gap between disadvantaged students and non-disadvantaged students sustaining an overall destination was widest 5 years after finishing key stage 4 study. This gap has grown wider in the latest measured period.
Students who were disadvantaged at the end of key stage 4 were less likely to have an overall sustained destination in the year that followed compared to non-disadvantaged students. This was driven by non-disadvantaged students being more likely to sustain an education destination than disadvantaged students. The gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students widened 3 years after they finished key stage 4 and was wider still 5 years after finishing key stage 4 study (14.4pp and 21.0pp, respectively).
The gap after 5 years has been steadily widening between cohorts: from 16.8 percentage points for the 2012/13 group of leavers to 21.0 percentage points for 2015/16 leavers. It is important to note that year 5 for the 2016 leavers was affected by disruption caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Non-disadvantaged students were more likely to sustain an apprenticeship destination 1, 3 and 5 years after finishing key stage 4 study compared to disadvantaged students.
Disadvantaged students were more likely to sustain an employment destination 1 year after finishing key stage 4 study compared to non-disadvantaged students. However, non-disadvantaged students were more likely to sustain employment destinations 3 and 5 years after finishing key stage 4 study than disadvantaged students.
Prior Attainment
Students who achieved A* to C in English and maths at key stage 4 were more likely to sustain an overall destination than those who did not achieve these grades
This gap was mainly driven by students with higher prior attainment being more likely to sustain an education destination than those with lower prior attainment. The gap in participation in sustained education between the two groups grew from 15.8pp after 1 year, to 22.8pp and 39.7pp in years 3 and 5.
Students who did not achieve A* to C in English and maths were more likely to sustain apprenticeship destinations 1 and 3 years after finishing key stage 4 than those students who did achieve these grades (3.0pp and 1.3pp gap respectively). Students with higher prior attainment were 0.9 percentage points more likely to sustain an apprenticeship destination 5 years after finishing key stage 4 study than those students with lower prior attainment.
Students who did not achieve A* to C in English and maths were more likely to sustain employment destinations in each of the measured periods than those who did.
Gender
Female students were more likely to have an overall sustained destination 1, 3 and 5 years after finishing key stage 4 than male students
Female students were 1.1 percentage points more likely to have an overall sustained destination than male students in the first year after finishing key stage 4. This gap grows to 4.3 percentage points in year 3 and levels off at 4.0pp in year 5. This difference is driven by female students being more likely to sustain an education destination than male students across the three measured time periods.
Male students were more likely than female students to take up apprenticeships. The gap between the proportion of female and male students who sustained an apprenticeship destination widened at 3 years and narrowed slightly 5 years after finishing key stage 4 study.
Male and female students were similarly likely to be in sustained employment in years 1 and 3 after key stage 4, with close to 1 in 4 being found in work in year 3. Male students became more likely to sustain employment destinations 5 years than female students.
Special educational needs
Students with special educational needs (SEN) in state-funded mainstream schools were less likely to have a sustained destination overall at 1, 3 and 5 after completing key stage 4
Students with recorded special educational needs (SEN) were 6.0 percentage points less likely to have an overall sustained destination a year after key stage 4 than those students without SEN (88.9% compared to 94.9%, respectively). This difference has been driven by students with recorded special educational needs being less likely to sustain an education destination than students with no identified special educational needs. This trend continued in the other two measured periods.
The gap between SEN students and non-SEN students widened 3 years after they finished key stage 4 and was widest 5 years after finishing key stage 4 study (13.1pp and 21.4pp, respectively).