Post-compulsory Education
Post compulsory Education (Education post 16)
The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act received Royal Assent in November 2009. This brings in a major change in funding of post 16 education pre university. Local authorities will take on responsibility for securing education and training for all 16 to 19 year olds, to ‘create a single, joined up offer for all children and young people from 0 to 19.
Data in the links in this section refers to education for post 16 year olds including further education and higher education. For many years this has been one of the most changeable of education sectors. Changes in funding and administration have meant this sector is almost unrecognisable compared to the early 90s.
Soon post compulsory education will mean education for students older than 18. Children in the current Year 7 are the first cohort who will be required to stay in education or training until 18.
In June 2007 The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), the Department for Children, Schools and Families and Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) were set up as new government departments by the Prime Minister on 28 June 2007. It was said that 'crossover responsibilities with the DCSF and DIUS, e.g. post 16 education, were part of the remit of both departments.’
In June 2009 The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills was created from a merger of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. The intention it was said was ‘to put the UK’s Further Education system and universities closer to the heart of government thinking about building now for the upturn’. Government funded education research and statistics continue to be published together (DCSF and BIS) on the DCSF website.
Post 16
Many statistics on this age group are produced in the Summer.
A Statistical First Release on Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16-18 Year Olds in England was published in June 2009.
The SFR provides information on the percentages of 16, 17 and 18 year olds in England in education and training and those who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) for the end 2007 (revising provisional figures released last year) and to the end of 2008 (provisional). Key breakdowns are by age, gender, mode of study, type of learning, institution type (FE college, schools, etc), labour market status and highest qualification being studied. There are additional tables showing a time series back to 1985.
In addition there are local tables showing participation in education and training for 16 and 17 year olds for end 2006 and end 2007 by Local Authority and region. These include breakdowns by age, mode and institution type and a time series back to 1994.
The SFR draws together information from the different post-16 learning options (school, FE colleges, work-based learning, Higher Education, etc) to give a picture of the participation of 16-18 year olds.
Its main points are:
- The proportion of 16-18 year olds in education and training was 79.7 per cent at the of end 2008 – the highest ever rate and an increase of 1.7 percentage points from 78.0 per cent at end 2007.
- The total number of 16-18 year olds in education and training increased by 34,000 to 1.61 million at end 2008, the highest number ever.
However, despite the increase in participation in education and training, the proportion of 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) also increased; from 9.7 per cent at end 2007 to 10.3 per cent at end 2008. This is due to reduced employment amongst young people not in education or training. In 2007, 56 per cent of those young people not in education or training were in work. In 2008, this had fallen to 49 per cent.
Participation in Education, Training and Employment by 16-18 Year Olds in England
An update on work-based learning figures is in the latest national statistics on post-16 education, learner participation and outcomes and level of highest qualification held produced by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which were released on 22nd October 2009.
Completing the course
The efforts of government to increase participation must also take into account whether or not young people successfully complete the course. A statistical first release in May 2008 detailed the success rate of apprenticeships and courses in FE colleges funded by the Learning and Skills Council.
Rates for LSC-funded provision in FE sector colleges (all ages - 16 plus) reached a new high point of 78%, up from 77% in 2005/06 and nearly 1.5 times the 1997 figures of 53%. In 2006/07, 111,800 LSC-funded learners completed apprenticeships (all ages -16 plus), an increase of nearly two-thirds on the 68,000 completions in 2004/05, and a threefold increase since 2001/02. In 2006/07 the full framework completion rate for apprenticeships (all ages - 16 plus) was 63%, up from 53% in 2005/06, and an increase of over 20 percentage points since 2004/05 (40%).
DIUS Learner Outcomes in England 2006/07
Provisional data for 2008/09 shows that there were 1,036,000 learners aged under 19 participating in LSC-funded learning (excluding schools and Higher Education). Provisional data for 2008/09 shows that 662,100 learners aged under 19 achieved an LSC-funded qualification.
SFR: Learner Participation (PDF file)
Youth cohort study
This Statistical Bulletin, on the experience and activities of English 16 year olds, covers a wide range of information and was published in June 2009. It provides an excellent insight.
The main points are:
- Young people mostly agreed that being British was important to them (72%). Those from Pakistani and Indian backgrounds were most likely to agree with this statement (80% and 77%) followed closely by White young people (72%), while Black African and Caribbean young people were least likely to agree (63% and 62%). Young people of Asian origin were more positive about fairness and equality in British society than White, Black and Mixed Race young people.
- Half of young people were strongly engaged with politics, rating their chances of voting in the next general election at 7 out of 10 or higher.
- Young people living in more deprived areas were less likely to feel safe when out and about on the streets, although they had not themselves experienced significantly more violence or threatening behaviour than others. At 16, verbal bullying was reported more often by females, whereas being a victim of threats, violence or mugging was more common for males.
- By the age 17, 27% of young people had some kind of caring responsibility. 3% had children of their own which meant that childcare was an issue for them, with grandparents being the most commonly used form of childcare (by 37% of young mothers). There are large differences across ethnic groups in the proportions of young people with caring responsibilities
- Groups of young people who were less likely to have gained Level 2 qualifications by the age of 16 (e.g. males, persistent truants, young people from lower social class backgrounds, those with lower qualified parents, and those with disabilities) were less likely to have gone on and achieved it by the age of 17. An exception to this rule was Black African and Black Caribbean young people who caught up to some extent by the age of 17.
- The proportion who were NEET was strongly associated with social class, from 3% of those from a professional parental background to 14% of those whose parents were in routine occupations.
- At age 14/15, 38% of young people had heard of Apprenticeships. However, the majority (71%) of those who had spoken to someone about Apprenticeships at that age thought it quite likely they would try for one after leaving school.
- There is a well-known gap in HE participation by social class which is reflected in young people's intentions to apply for HE when asked in Years 9, 10 and 11. There is a consistent gap of 20 percentage points or more between the higher and lower socio-economic groups in the proportions intending to apply.
Facts about further education
Updated in July 2008, a specific Excel spreadsheet described as the Further Education Book of Facts has data about many aspects of further education including time series information about FE learners, colleges, workforce, funding and success rates.
Further Education Book of Facts
Ethnic minorities
Some minority ethnic groups in the UK have higher rates of participation at age 16 and 18 than both the majority white cohort and some other minorities. A research review identified what determines their views on participation in post-16 education.
Education Maintenance allowances
A Parliamentary Answer revealed Government’s expectations of spending on EMAs.
Education Maintenance Allowance
Qualifications of Adult population
A statistical first release published in June 2008 has figures on numbers of adults and proportions with qualifications by level which are broken down by sex, age, geography, ethnicity, disability and economic activity. A time series shows for example the increase in proportion of the population with qualifications at all levels since 2001.
Level of Highest Qualification (PDF file)
Higher education
Participation rates in higher education have risen slowly since 1999 to over 40% of the age range 17-30. The latest figures were published in March 2009.
Participation Rates in Higher Education 1999/2000-2007/08
The main points are:
- The provisional figure for the Higher Education Initial Participation Rates (HEIPR) for 2007/08 was 43%, up from the final figure for 2006/07 of 42%.
- The provisional figure for males for 2007/08 was 38%, up from the final figure for 2006/07 of 37%.
- For females, the provisional figure for 2007/08 was 49%, up from the final figure for 2006/07 of 48%.
- The provisional figure for full-time students in 2007/08 was 37%, up from the final figure for 2006/07 of 35%.
- The provisional figure for part-time students was 7% in 2007/08, the same in rounded terms as the final figure for 2006/07 of 7%. The unrounded figures show a 0.3 percentage point decline.
- The provisional figures for 2007/08 on the age specific initial participation rates for males and females show that participation rates for females were higher than those for males for all ages from 17 to 30.
- 19 year old initial entrants show the highest growth in age specific initial participation rates between 2006/07 and 2007/08 with an increase of 0.9 percentage points.
A Statistical First release published in July 2009 has destinations of Leavers from Higher Education in the UK. It shows the first destinations of HE graduates six months after graduation (i.e. the number in employment, further study or unemployed) for graduates who qualified in the 2007/08 academic year.
Destinations of Leavers from HE 2007/08
In 2007/08, there were 200,090 full-time first degree graduates whose destinations were known, compared to 190,385 in 2006/07. In 2007/08, 62% (124,065) were in employment only, 64% in 2006/07; 8% (15,265) were in a combination of work and study, 9% in 2006/07; 17% (33,170) were involved in further study only, 16% in 2006/07; and 8% (16,835) were assumed to be unemployed, 6% in 2006/07.
Funding
The funding of higher education is one of the factors which has changed considerably since the start of the decade. From 2006 tuition fees were charged. Low-interest loans were available to pay these and a non-repayable means-tested maintenance grant was introduced.
A statistical first release published in June 2009 has the data on student loans – it showed that at the end of 2008-09 there were 2.9 million borrowers; of these, 1.8 million had accounts liable for repayment. These figures represent increases of 9% and 11% respectively compared to the position at the end of 2007-08.
Statistics on student loans back to 2004 are available on the student loans website, which also has explanatory information about student finances.
National Statistics: Student Loans
Student satisfaction with the information about the funding of higher education was researched by the DIUS. Parental satisfaction had declined.
Customer Satisfaction with HE Financial Support Arrangements 2006/7
MPs are particularly interested in higher education judging by the numbers of links on the RISE topic compared to for example special needs. This is a rich source of information about HE.
Trends
A whole section of the DCSF Trends in Education is devoted to post 16 learning.
It covers aspects of both post-16 and higher education under several sections, namely:
- Participation in education and training by 16 to 18 year olds
- 16 to 18 year olds by labour market status
- enrolments in further education
- widening access to further education
- HE resources (academic staff, student:teacher ratios and unit public funding)
- rates of participation in higher education
- student population (characteristics of the HE student population)
- overall rates of adult participation in learning
- employees participating in job-related training
- work-based learning for young people
November 2009