Meaningful destinations: using national data to investigate how different education pathways support young people’s progression in England

Abstract

ABSTRACTUntil recently, school accountability measures in England have focused on assessment results rather than on what students do after they leave school/college. However, destination measures are increasingly being seen as key tools in assessing how schools prepare their students for a successful transition into the next stage of education or training, or into employment.Research into destinations has been limited in the past due to data availability. However, recent linked data from the Department for Education offers the opportunity to examine the relationship between students’ education and their destinations. This research investigated, in particular, how different qualifications and pathways support students’ progression.Our findings showed statistically significant effects of secondary education pathway. After taking into account student and school characteristics, vocational pathways in lower secondary education led to higher progression to any destination (education, employment or training) than any other pathway amongst students with low attainment. However, as the students’ attainment levels increased, those following academic or mostly academic pathways had higher progression than those on vocational or mostly vocational routes.Upper secondary students on vocational pathways, independently of their prior attainment, were less likely than those on academic pathways to progress to any sustained destination.