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Qualifications and destinations of Northern Ireland school leavers 2007/08

Thursday, 28 May 2009

Results from the 2007/08 School Leavers Survey have been published detailing the highest qualification and first destination of school leavers by gender, school type and management type.

Key Points

  • The proportion of school leavers achieving two or more A levels or equivalent was 46.7% in 2007/08, an increase of 4.4 percentage points from 42.3% in 2003/04.
  • The proportion of school leavers achieving at least five GCSEs at grades A* - C or equivalent has increased by 6.2 percentage points from 60.7% in 2003/04 to 66.9% in 2007/08.
  • The proportion of pupils leaving school with no GCSEs has decreased by two percentage points from 5.6% in 2003/04 to 3.6% in 2007/08.
  • The proportion of school leavers continuing on to Institutions of Higher Education has increased by 3.9 percentage points from 36.0% in 2003/04 to 39.9% in 2007/08, whereas the proportion continuing on to Institutions of Further Education increased by 2.8 percentage points from 26.7% in 2003/04 to 29.5% in 2007/08.
  • The proportion of pupils unemployed after leaving school decreased between 2003/04 and 2007/08 from 4.3% to 3.5%.

Qualifications

A Levels

  • Girls continue to outperform boys in terms of the highest level of qualification achieved. By the time they leave school 55.6% of girls achieved at least two A levels or equivalent compared to 37.9% of boys, and 52.4% of girls achieved three or more A levels or equivalent in 2007/08 compared to 35.7% of boys.
  • The proportion of grammar school leavers achieving at least two A levels or equivalent has increased from 80.2% in 2003/04 to 81.6% in 2007/08. 87.3% of grammar school girls left school with two or more A levels or equivalent compared to 75.6% of grammar school boys. The corresponding proportions for secondary schools were 33.7% for girls and 14.9% for boys.
  • The proportion of secondary school leavers achieving at least two A levels or equivalent has increased from 18.3% in 2003/04 to 24.0% in 2007/08.
  • The proportion of pupils at schools under Catholic management who achieved two or more A levels or equivalent was higher than the proportion of pupils at schools under Other management at 50.0% and 44.0% respectively.
  • When religion of pupil is considered, 49.9% of Catholic school leavers left with two or more A levels compared to 43.1% of Protestant school leavers.
  • At 51.3% the proportion of pupils not entitled to free school meals who achieved two or more A levels or equivalent was higher than those pupils entitled to free school meals (21.6%).

GCSEs

  • The proportion of girls leaving school with at least five GCSEs or equivalent at grades A* - C remains higher than the proportion of boys; 73.8% of girls leaving school in 2007/08 achieved at least five GCSEs at grades A* - C or equivalent compared to 60.0% of boys.
  • The proportion of pupils leaving grammar schools achieving at least five GCSEs at grades A* - C or equivalent has increased from 95.8% in 2003/04 to 96.5% in 2007/08. The corresponding proportions for secondary schools were 38.5% and 47.6%, a percentage point increase of 9.1.
  • 65.5% of pupils from schools under Other management left school having achieved at least five+ GCSEs A* - C or equivalent in 2007/08; the corresponding figure for leavers from Catholic managed schools was 68.5%.
  • Twice as many boys (581) leave school with no GCSEs or equivalent compared to girls (296) (4.8% and 2.5% respectively.
  • When free school meal entitlement is considered 7.5% of those entitled to free school meals leave without any GCSEs compared to 2.9% of those school leavers not entitled to free school meals.
  • Only 12.2% of Protestant boys entitled to free school meals achieve at least five GCSEs at grades A* - C or equivalent including English and maths compared with 26.0% of Protestant girls entitled to free school meals.
  • 62.6% of girls achieve at least five GCSEs at grades A* - C or equivalent including English and maths compared with 50.2% of boys, a difference of 12.4 percentage points. When religion of pupil is considered, 57.6% of Catholic school leavers left with at least five GCSEs at grades A* - C or equivalent including English and maths compared to 54.8% of Protestant school leavers.

Destinations

  • In total 39.9% of school leavers entered Institutions of Higher Education. The proportion of girls continuing on to Institutions of Higher Education is significantly higher than that for boys at 47.3% and 32.6% respectively.
  • In total 29.5% of school leavers entered Institutions of Further Education. The proportion of girls continuing on to Institutions of Further Education is larger than that for boys at 29.8% and 29.2% respectively.
  • Girls leaving school are more likely to continue their education with 77.1% of girls entering Institutions of Higher or Further Education compared to 61.8% of boys.
  • The proportion of boys entering Training was much greater than that for girls at 20.8% and 8.8% respectively.
  • A higher proportion of school leavers from schools under Catholic management continued on to Institutions of Higher Education (43.0%) than their counterparts from schools under Other management (37.4%). For those pupils entering Further Education, there was a higher proportion of school leavers from schools under Other management (33.0%) than from schools under Catholic management (25.2%).
  • A higher proportion of pupils leaving grammar schools under Catholic management attend Institutions of Higher Education (78.8%) than pupils leaving grammar schools under Other management (71.9%). A similar trend emerges for secondary school leavers with 21.0% of pupils from secondary schools under Catholic management continuing on to Institutions of Higher Education compared to 13.8% of pupils from secondary schools under Other management.
  • A higher proportion of pupils leaving grammar schools under Other management attend Institutions of Further Education (18.2%) than pupils leaving grammar schools under Catholic management (13.1%). Similarly, there is a difference among pupils leaving secondary school with 43.1% from Other managed schools compared to 32.7% from Catholic managed schools continuing on to Institutions of Further Education.
  • School leavers not entitled to free school meals are more likely to continue their education with 72.8% entering institutions of Higher or Further Education compared to 50.9% of leavers who were entitled to free school meals.

Notes to Editors:

National Statistics

This is a National Statistics publication. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. They undergo regular assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.

For general enquiries about National Statistics, contact the National Statistics Public Enquiry Service at:

Customer Contact Centre
Room 1.015
Office for National Statistics
Cardiff Road
Newport NP10 8XG

Telephone: 0845 601 3034
minicom: 01633 812399
E-mail: info@statistics.gov.uk
Fax: 01633 652747

You can also find National Statistics on the UK National Statistics website

School Leavers’ Survey

The School Leavers’ Survey was cancelled in 2002/03. Considerable difficulties arose with data collection as a result of technical problems with new software installed in schools. The difficulties delayed the returns, allowing insufficient time for data to be checked with schools – a necessary part of the validation process.

All figures quoted are taken from the annual School Leavers’ Survey of all secondary and grammar schools in Northern Ireland.

Tables referring to highest qualification incorporate equivalences based on the National Qualifications Framework. Further information can be obtained from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority website

Tables referring to highest qualification contain shaded areas. Figures in the shaded areas overlap with other areas of the table e.g. 5+ GCSEs A* - C are included in the category 5+ GCSEs A* - G. Numbers in the non-shaded areas sum to the total.

Destinations are reported by the school leavers and recorded by the school.

Further Information

1. Requests for further information should be addressed to:-

Mr John Toogood
Statistics and Research Branch
Department of Education
Rathgael House
Balloo Road
Bangor
BT19 7PR

Telephone (028) 9127 9379
Fax (028) 9127 9594
E-mail john.toogood@deni.gov.uk

2. The full results from the 2007/08 School Leavers Survey can be viewed on the DENI website.

3. Special analyses of the School Leavers’ Survey can be produced on request.

4. Press enquiries should be made to the Department’s Press Office on telephone (028) 9127 9701/fax (028) 9127 9271. Out of hours call the EIS Duty Press Officer on 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.