Initial destinations of senior phase school leavers: 2018 edition

Key Trends

• The percentage of senior phase school leavers in a positive destination approximately three months after leaving school has increased from 93.3 per cent in 2015/16 to 93.7 per cent of 2016/17.
• 67.5 per cent of senior phase school leavers continued their education within Higher or Further Education establishments in 2016/17 compared to 66.9 per cent in 2015/16.
• The percentage of senior phase school leavers entering employment has remained broadly constant since 2013/14 (at approximately 22 per cent).
• The percentage of leavers that are unemployed and seeking employment or training decreased from 5.1 per cent in 2015/16 to 4.5 per cent in 2016/17.
• For the most deprived 20 per cent of senior phase school leavers the percentage in a positive initial destination has increased by 0.9 percentage points (88.7 per cent in 2015/16 to 89.6 per cent in 2016/17).
• For the least deprived 20 per cent of senior phase school leavers the percentage in a positive destination has remained at 96.6 per cent for 2015/16 and 2016/17.
• The percentage point gap in positive initial destinations (the difference between the most and least deprived senior phase leavers) decreased from 7.9 percentage points in 2015/16 to 7.0 percentage points in 2016/17. This continues the downward trend in the percentage point gap observed over the last six years (11.2 per cent in 2011/12).