More than a quarter of Buckinghamshire students go on to study at Russell Group universities after Key Stage 5 (after A levels or other level 3 qualification, usually aged 18).
This is more than double the national rate and the highest share of any Local Enterprise Partnership, 10 percentage points above Hertfordshire in second place. Buckinghamshire also has the highest share of students going to Oxford or Cambridge universities and of students attending universities ranked in the top third in the country. Overall, 55 per cent of those leaving Buckinghamshire’s schools after Key Stage 5 enter higher education, the highest share among LEPs, behind London.
Table 1: Destination of Key Stage 5 students, 2014/15
Source: Department for Education, 2016
Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of Buckinghamshire’s school leavers at Key Stage 5 enter sustained employment or training, including the three per cent that take apprenticeships, while six per cent do not entering sustained education, employment or training.
After Key Stage 4 (after year 11, usually aged 16), 97 per cent of Buckinghamshire’s students progressed to education, employment or training, the joint highest share among all Local Education Authorities in England. The most common destination was sixth form school accounting for 64 per cent of the cohort, ahead of FE College (24 per cent) and sixth form college and apprenticeship (both 4 per cent), with 3 per cent entering sustained work or training.
By Parliamentary constituency, 78 per cent of Wycombe’s 627 school leavers attended university after Key Stage 5, with 40 per cent attending Russell Group universities which is among the very highest rates in the country, ahead of Beaconsfield (72, 30), Chesham and Amersham (67, 30), Buckingham (65, 20) and Aylesbury (59, 21). The proportion entering sustained employment or training ranged from 31 per cent in Aylesbury to 14 per cent in Wycombe, compared to the national rate of 23 per centBy institution, Wycombe High School and Beaconsfield High School have the highest share of students going on to university after Key Stage 5, at 84 per cent. More than two thirds of students attend Russell Group universities from The Royal Grammar School, Dr Challoner’s Grammar School and Dr Challoner’s High School, with the Royal Grammar School having the highest share going to Oxbridge, at 11 per cent.
The full data can be downloaded here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/destinations-of-ks4-and-ks5-pupils-2015-provisional
Table 2: School leavers’ destination after Key Stage 5, 2014/15
Source: Department for Education, 2016
