WIREDGOV

Government shows commitment to annual destination data by publishing 6 months early.

Thousands more students are staying in education or going on to employment or training, according to figures published yesterday (27 January 2015).

The data shows that between October 2012 to March 2013 91% of pupils continued down 1 of these 3 routes after key stage 4 (normally 16 years old), rising from 89% the previous year - a total of 6,500 pupils.

Ensuring more young people leave education prepared for further study or the world of work is crucial to the government’s long-term economic plan.

The latest figures come at a time when the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) is at its lowest since consistent records began in 1994.

Destination measures are increasingly being seen as key to assessing how well schools and colleges prepare their students to make a successful transition into the next stage of education or training, or employment.

Yesterday's annual key stage 4 and key stage 5 destination measures, which predominantly cover the post-16 age group, are being released 6 months earlier than previous cohorts, showing the government’s commitment to improving the timeliness of the data.

Schools Minister David Laws said yesterday:

It is crucial that parents have access to the information that lets them judge how well schools and colleges are preparing young people for the future.

Today’s data show many examples of schools - including those in the most deprived parts of the country - which are ensuring their pupils are moving on to meaningful destinations.

The figures are hugely satisfying, with thousands more pupils going on to further education, training or employment - showing the significant progress this coalition government has made in building a fairer society.

At the same time there are some schools which could be doing more to make sure all their pupils can get on in life, and today’s data will be extremely valuable in helping hold those school leaders to account.

The publication was also welcomed by Ofsted, which now takes into account a school’s destination data when considering the effectiveness of its careers advice for pupils in years 8 to 13.

Marina Gaze HMI, Ofsted Deputy Director for Further Education and Skills, said:

We welcome the earlier publication of destination measures.

The data helps to inform conversations between inspectors and schools and colleges about the progress students make into further and higher learning or employment.

We particularly welcome the trend data this year.

Brampton Manor Academy in London, a mixed comprehensive converter academy, is 1 example of a school with a high proportion of pupils from a disadvantaged background (260 out of a total of 270) who are going on to positive outcomes.

In the 2012 to 2013 period analysed, 94% of disadvantaged pupils at the school continued in education, employment and training.

And at the St Marylebone Church of England School, a comprehensive girls’ school in London and another converter academy, 98% of the 60 pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds went on to meaningful destinations in October 2012 to March 2013.

Notes to editors

1. Read the Destinations of key stage 4 and key stage 5 pupils: 2012 to 2013.
2. Destination measures are published as ‘experimental statistics’ and do not display the National Statistics logo, as data are still being evaluated and remain subject to further testing in terms of their reliability and ability to meet customer needs.
3. The reason for the time lag between a cohort of students leaving an institution and the data on their destinations being published is that we are measuring sustained participation in education, employment or training. We need to wait for that period to elapse and then match datasets together to arrive at the complete destination picture. We are investigating whether we can produce the measures more quickly in the future.

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