Education (16-18) Outcomes

The numbers and percentages of students continuing to education, apprenticeship or employment destinations in the year after completing 16 to 18 study in North East schools and colleges

Education and skills
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North East outcomes

  • Among students who completed 16 to 18 study in North East schools and colleges in 2020/21:
    • About 79.3% were in sustained education, employment or apprenticeships
    • around 47.6% in education, including 38.1% in higher education
    • a further 21.6% were in sustained employment
    • and 10.1% were in apprenticeships, with most at intermediate or advanced level.
  • Compared to England as a whole:
    • A smaller percentage of North East students were in a sustained destination
    • this was true for both sustained education and employment
    • however, a higher percentage of North East students were in sustained apprenticeships
  • Within the North East:
    • students from North Tyneside schools and colleges were most likely to be in a sustained destination
    • this was mainly due to a very high percentage in sustained education
    • students from Newcastle schools and colleges were most likely to be in sustained employment
    • South Tyneside students were most likely to be in sustained apprenticeships.
  • For a destination to be "sustained" for a particular learner in 2021/22, they will have had sustained participation for a 6 month period during the academic year.

Recent trends

  • In 2021/22, the percentage of North East students in a sustained destination a year after completing 16 to 18 study was 3.8 percentage points (pp) higher than in 2020/21:
    • This increase was larger than that for England (+3.2 pp)
    • it had followed three years of decreasing percentages (by 2.2 pp overall)
    • the percentages of North East students in sustained employment and apprenticeships increased in the latest year
    • the percentage in sustained education decreased in the latest year
    • over the past four years, this percentage had a larger increase than that for sustained employment, while the apprenticeship percentage had decreased.
  • Within the North East:
    • In the latest year, the largest pp increase of students in sustained destinations had been for those from Sunderland schools and colleges
    • this percentage had increased in all seven North East local authority areas
    • over the most recent four years, the increase had been highest among North Tyneside students
    • again, the latest percentage was higher than four years earlier for all seven North East local authority areas.

Pupil characteristics

  • In 2021/22, the percentage of North East female students in a sustained destination a year after completing 16 to 18 study (81.4%) was higher than that of their male counterparts (77.2%):
    • The North East percentage point gap was slightly lower than the national equivalent
    • North East female students were more likely to be in sustained education than males
    • however, the percentages of North East males in sustained employment and apprenticeships were higher
    • within the North East, females students from schools and colleges in all seven locala authority area were more likely than males to be in a sustained destination
    • the gap was largest in Sunderland and smallest in North Tyneside.
  • In 2021/22, the percentage of North East disadvantaged students in a sustained destination a year after completing 16 to 18 study (65.6%) was much lower than for those classified as not disadvantaged (84.0%):
    • The North East percentage point gap was much higher than the national equivalent
    • the gap was particularly influenced by a low percentage of North East disadvantaged students in sustained education
    • the percentages in sustained employment and apprenticeships were also lower than for other students
    • within the North East, disdvantaged students from schools and colleges in all seven local authority area were less likely than other students to be in a sustained destination
    • the gap was largest in Northumberland and smallest in North Tyneside
    • disadvantaged students are those in year 11 who had been eligible for free school meals at any point in the previous six years; had been looked after by the local authority; or had been adopted from care.