16-18 Destinations

The 16-18 destination measures provide information on the success of schools and colleges in helping young people continue in education, apprenticehsips or employment. For clarity on data collection, please navigate to Department for Education Website.

The dashboard presents number of students completing 16-18 studies and their destinations after completion.

An understanding of destination measures over time can be used to track successful outcomes of different educational routes over time and in any given local authority.

  • Source: Department for Education
  • Timeline: 2021/22
  • Last Updated: 5 January'24
  • Note: This data is updated in line with Department for Education release dates (November'24).
  • Not in sustained destination: Includes students who were captured in the destination source data but who failed to meet the sustained participation criteria; it covers students who had participated in education, apprenticeships or employment during the academic year but did not complete the required six months sustained participation or were known to be claiming out-of-work benefits at some time during the destination year. This can also include periods of being recorded as NEET by their local authority.
  • Apprenticeship Level 2: These apprenticeships provide basic knowledge and skills for specific jobs and are equal to GCSEs.
  • Apprenticeship Level 3: These apprenticeships offer more specialised knowledge and skills and are equal to A levels.
  • Apprenticeship Level 4: These apprenticeships focus on higher-level professional skills and can be equal to a foundation degree, a Higher National Certificate (HNC), or a Higher National Diploma (HND).
  • Further education: Includes any study after secondary education that’s not part of higher education (that is, not taken as part of an undergraduate or graduate degree).
  • Higher education: Comes after secondary and further education, leading to a qualification or credit awarded by a degree-awarding body. Typically, it involves working towards a degree, but some programmes may lead to a diploma, certificate or other award or qualification on the national Qualifications Frameworks.