Written by:
Victoria Winckler
Director
The Bevan Foundation
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If you have teenagers, you’ll know that exam season is upon us. GCSE examinations are due to start in a matter of weeks and run until mid-June. There’s then a couple of months’ respite until results day on 24th August. But what happens after that?
Each year Careers Wales collects data on ‘pupil destinations’, which shows broadly what happens to learners leaving their statutory education at the age of 15-16, i.e. on leaving year eleven. The findings for 2022 have just been published and make for interesting reading.
The good news is that the vast majority of 15-16-year-olds continue in some form of further learning. Of those who move on to full-time study, colleges of further education are the popular choice with six out of ten leavers moving on to a college compared with four out of ten studying in a school 6th form. Employers looking to attract young people into future careers or to develop partnerships with local education providers should take note – if you want to find talent look to FE colleges as well as schools!
The proportion of 15-16-year-olds moving into other activities is much smaller. Fewer than one in twenty moves into some form of work-based learning, while just one in thirty – the equivalent of one pupil in each class – goes into standard employment. Males and learners of White ethnicity were much more likely to enter employment than females and learners of minority ethnicity, but even so the proportions are small. The days of large numbers of leavers starting in the local factory are clearly long gone.
While there is much to celebrate, there are also some worrying trends. The number of year eleven pupils going on to full-time education is at its lowest level since 2014 (apart from 2018 when there were data problems). In contrast, the proportion entering standard employment is increasing – perhaps reflecting the need to earn a wage during the cost-of-living crisis. Even at a minimum wage of £5.28 an hour for under 18-year-olds, their earnings are a potentially valuable contribution to household finances.
The Welsh Government announcement that Education Maintenance Allowance, which supports low-income learners, will increase by £10 a week to £40 is a very welcome boost. It may well help to stem the trend and encourage young people to stay in education as well as enabling them to afford essential college supplies and food. However, it still leaves the question of whether there will be the opportunities and financial support for young people who leave education to gain qualifications as adults if they wish to do so.
Perhaps most worrying of all is the apparent increase in the percentage of Year 11 school-leavers who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). While the proportion is small, at 2.1%, it is the highest since 2015. Missing out on learning or employment at the age of 16 to 18 has a lasting and damaging effect on a young person’s prospects, so we should be concerned. Two-thirds of NEET young people are unable to enter work because of illness, pregnancy or another reason. But these days most parents are expected to work and some people recover from illness. What is the future for those young people? Are there opportunities for them to return to learning or to get a job in the future? Or does a lifetime of economic inactivity await?
It’s corny but true to say that young people are all our futures, as business leaders or workers, as parents and carers, and as customers. We should do our best to support their growth and development. Ask yourself, what are you or your organisation doing to help learners of all kind along the pathway to success?
