Learners included in the calculation
The destination measures in this publication cover learners who:
- Were in a Further Education (FE) college or training provider.
- Achieved an FE learning aim funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and reported in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) in 2018/19.
- Completed their 16 to 18 study by the end of the 2018/19 academic year. The methodology used to identify those at the end of 16 to 18 study is described in detail in the methodology for the 16-18 destinations statistics.
A summary of destination measures calculation is provided below. For more detailed information on these, see the outcome-based success measures methodology page.
Sustained Positive destination
The ‘sustained positive destination’ measure aims to count the proportion of learners with a sustained positive outcome, either into learning or employment (or both). For 2018/19 completers to be counted as having a sustained positive destination, a learner must either
- Have a sustained positive employment outcome, or
- Have a sustained positive learning outcome (including sustained apprenticeship), or
- Be engaged in either learning (further education or higher education) or paid employment in each of the six months between October 2019 and March 2020.
Under the final scenario, learners may only ‘switch’ between learning and employment once. For example, if they are in learning for 2 months, then employment for 4 months they are counted as having a sustained positive destination. However if they are in learning for 2 months, then employment for 2 months, then learning 2 months, they are not counted as having a sustained positive destination.
Sustained employment only
The sustained employment only measure reports on learners in ‘sustained employment’ excluding those that are also in ‘sustained learning’.
Sustained further/higher education learning
The ‘sustained further education learning’, and ‘sustained higher education learning’ measures aim to count the proportion of learners in sustained FE or HE learning, regardless of economic activity, following the achievement of their course. The definition of sustained learning for both measures is consistent with the definition used for 16-19 accountability. This looks at learning activity in the six-month October to March period following the end of the academic year in which the learning aim took place. For 2018/19 achievers to be counted as in sustained learning:
- A learner must be in further education training (sustained further education) in each of the six months between October 2019 and March 2020.
- A learner must be in higher education training (sustained higher education) in each of the six months between October 2019 and March 2020.
- A learner needs to be in learning for at least one day in a month for that month to be counted.
Sustained learning
The ‘sustained learning’ measure takes into account the ‘sustained further education’, ‘sustained higher education’, and ‘sustained apprenticeship’ measures. If a learner has met the criteria for one or more of these measures they will be included in the ‘sustained learning’ measure.
Sustained learning only
The sustained learning only measure reports on learners in ‘sustained learning’ excluding those that are also in sustained employment.
Sustained employment and learning
The sustained employment and learning measure reports on learners that were counted as being in both ‘sustained employment’, and ‘sustained learning’.
Industry sector of employment
This shows the sector of employment for those who are in sustained employment and is calculated by combining data on tax records with sector information in the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR). However this does not show the specific occupation that people are involved in and this represents a limitation with the analysis.
Subject area of learning
This is the subject sector area SSA (Tier 1) of learning for those in a sustained learning destination. It is calculated by linking the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) from the academic year of end-of-study to the ILR of the following year and also the Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) data.
The ILR provides data on qualification undertaken and achievement status. It also provides SSA of sustained learning for those in further education (FE). The HESA data provides information on the SSA of sustained learning for those in higher education (HE). HESA has a different subject classification code to the SSA codes used in the ILR and work has been done to ‘map’ these different codes so we can consistently classify subject areas across FE and HE.