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Qualifications and Destinations of Northern Ireland School Leavers 2008/09

Thursday, 27 May 2010

Results from the 2008/09 School Leavers Survey have been published detailing the qualifications and destinations of school leavers by gender, school type and religion of pupil.

Key Points

  • The proportion of school leavers achieving two or more A levels or equivalent was 50.6% in 2008/09, an increase of 6.3 percentage points from 44.3% in 2004/05.
  • The proportion of school leavers achieving at least five GCSEs at grades A* - C or equivalent has increased by 7.1 percentage points from 63.0% in 2004/05 to 70.1%in 2008/09.
  • The proportion of pupils leaving school with no GCSEs has decreased by 2.1percentage points from 5.0% in 2004/05 to 2.9% in 2008/09.
  • The proportion of school leavers continuing on to Institutions of Higher Education has increased by 4.8 percentage points from 38.1% in 2004/05 to 42.9% in 2008/09. The proportion continuing on to Institutions of Further Education increased by 4.9 percentage points from 27.5% in 2004/05 to 32.4% in 2008/09.
  • The proportion of pupils unemployed after leaving school decreased between 2004/05 and 2008/09 from 4.4% to 3.1%.

Qualifications

A Levels

  • Girls continue to outperform boys in terms of qualifications achieved. By the time they leave school 58.4% of girls achieved at least two A levels or equivalent compared to 42.8% of boys, and 55.6% of girls achieved three or more A levels or equivalent in 2008/09 compared to 40.7% of boys.
  • The proportion of grammar school leavers achieving at least two A levels or equivalent has increased from 81.7% in 2004/05 to 84.4% in 2008/09. 88.5% of grammar school girls left school with two or more A levels or equivalent compared to 80.0% of grammar school boys. The corresponding proportions for secondary schools were 36.1% for girls and 18.1% for boys and 26.9% overall, an increase of 6.8 percentage points from 20.1% in 2004/05.
  • The proportion of secondary school leavers achieving at least two A levels or equivalent has increased from 20.1% in 2004/05 to 26.9% in 2008/09.
  • When religion of pupil is considered, 54.4% of Catholic school leavers left with two or more A levels compared to 46.2% of Protestant school leavers.
  • At 55.2% the proportion of pupils not entitled to free school meals who achieved two or more A levels or equivalent was much higher than those pupils entitled to free school meals (25.4%).

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; 75.9% of girls leaving school in 2008/09 achieved at least five GCSEs at grades A* - C or equivalent compared to 64.4% of boys.

  • The proportion of pupils leaving grammar schools achieving at least five GCSEs at grades A* - C or equivalent has increased from 96.6% in 2004/05 to 97.0% in 2008/09. The corresponding proportions for secondary schools were 41.3% and 51.3%, a 10.0 percentage point increase.
  • More boys (413) leave school with no GCSEs or equivalent compared to girls (260), this represents 3.6% of boys and 2.2% of girls.
  • When free school meal entitlement is considered 6.1% of those entitled to free school meals leave without any GCSEs compared to 2.3% of school leavers who are not entitled to free school meals.
  • 18.8% (102) 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 29.4% (332) of Catholic boys entitled to free school meals.
  • 63.7% of girls achieve at least five GCSEs at grades A* - C or equivalent including English and maths compared with 53.1% of boys, a difference of 10.6 percentage points. When religion of pupil is considered, 59.5% of Catholic school leavers left with at least five GCSEs at grades A* - C or equivalent including English and maths compared to 57.0% of Protestant school leavers.

Destinations

  • In total 42.9% of school leavers entered Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). At 48.8% the proportion of girls continuing on to HEIs is higher than for boys at 37.0%.
  • The proportion of boys entering Training is much greater than that for girls at 18.0% and 7.5% respectively (Table 10).
  • When religion of pupil is considered 38.9% of Protestant school leavers attend Institutions of Higher Education compared with 46.4% of Catholic school leavers.
  • School leavers not entitled to free school meals are more likely to continue their education with 78.4% entering institutions of Higher or Further Education compared to 58.6% of leavers who were entitled to free school meals.

Notes to editors:

National Statistics

1. 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.

2. For general enquiries about National Statistics, contact the National Statistics Public Enquiry Service by:-

Telephone: 0845 601 3034
minicom: 01633 812399
E-mail: info@statistics.gov.uk
Fax: 01633 652747
Letters: Customer Contact Centre, Room 1.015, Office for National Statistics,
Cardiff Road, Newport, NP10 8XG

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

School Leavers’ Survey

4. More detail about the collection of school leavers’ statistics may be found on the DENI website. Special analysis of the School Leavers’ Survey can be produced on request. Comparative data may also be found at:-

Department for Children, Schools and Families website

The Scottish Government website

Department of Education and Science website

5. 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.

6. The numbers relating to qualifications are cumulative totals of the level detailed and those above. For example 70.1% of school leavers achieved at least five GCSEs A*-C inc. equivalents. This proportion is calculated by adding those with a highest qualification of 3+ A Levels, 2 A Levels, 1 A Level & 5 GCSEs A*-C and dividing by the total number of school leavers.

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

Further Information

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

Mr John Toogood
Statistics and Research Branch
Department of Education
Rathgael House
Balloo Road
Rathgill
Bangor
BT19 7PR
Telephone (028) 9127 9379
Fax (028) 9127 9594
E-mail john.toogood@deni.gov.uk

DE Statistical Press Releases can be accessed on the DENI website.

9. Media enquiries to the Department of Education Press Office Tel: 02891279207. Out of office hours contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699715440 and your call will be returned.