Summary
This analysis examines the movement of students in 16-19 education in England – specifically, those students who enrolled at an FE college later on in this education phase, in Year 13, after having previously been at another type of institution in Year 12, such as a school sixth form or sixth form college.
This work was commissioned by the Association of Colleges.
Data
To identify the movement of students between institutions in the 16-19 phase of education, analysis is conducted on matched National Pupil Database and Individualised Learner Records data, sourced from the DfE and ONS. The type of institution a student is based in is identified using the Department for Education’s Get information about schools service.[1]
Findings refer to students who were in year 12 in the year 2016.
Due to the methods associated with obtaining the data, the number of students associated with being in FE and not being in FE differ to some extent from official statistics. The category schools includes LA maintained schools, free schools and academies, and the category other includes sixth form colleges, special schools, independent schools and higher education institutions, as well as other institution types and people who aren’t in education.
Findings
The key findings from the analysis are:
- 40,375 students moved into an FE college in year 13 after not being based in one in year 12, of whom 18,720 came from schools.
- 23,055 students completed two years of education in FE colleges in years 13 and 14, after not being based in one in year 12, of whom 12,520 came from schools.
- 19,830 students completed two years of education in the same FE college in years 13 and 14, after not being based in one in year 12, of whom 10,980 came from schools.
The category of other includes students based in other educational institutions (such as higher education and sixth form colleges) and students who are not in education.
Figure 1 illustrates the flow of students between different institution types in each year.
Figure 2 expands upon figure 1 by also identifying students who change between specific institutions but remain based with institutions of the same type.
Tables 1 and 2 provide the underlying numbers for figures 1 and 2.
Figure 1: Flow of students between types of institution
Figure 2: Flow of students between institutions and institution types
Table 1: Numbers of students who are based within FE colleges or alternative institution types in different years
Table 2: Numbers of students who are based within FE colleges or alternative institution types in different years, including whether they have changed institutions
This work contains statistical data from ONS which is Crown Copyright. The use of the ONS statistical data in this work does not imply the endorsement of the ONS in relation to the interpretation or analysis of the statistical data. This work uses research datasets which may not exactly reproduce National Statistics aggregates
[1] https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/
