Administrative data sources do not currently allow us to calculate the proportion of those who gained A Levels and enrolled on a degree course at higher education.
Some rates of entry to higher education by prior qualification are available from the Youth Cohort Study (YCS). The latest available figures are based on 19-year-olds in
2006-07:
82 per cent. of those with academic Level 3 qualifications at age 18 are in HE by age 19.
47 per cent. of those with vocational Level 3 qualifications at age 18 are in HE by age 19.
Although the YCS cannot reliably be used to make comparisons over time, the data do suggest that conversion rates from A level to HE have been reasonably constant at above 80 per cent.
Administrative data sources do not currently allow us to calculate the proportion of those who gained A-levels who applied for a university place, nor is application information for 18-year-olds available by smaller areas.
The latest available information on all 18-year-old applicants is given in Table 1.
Year of entry Applicants 2000 151,060 2001 156,240 2002 157,585 2003 161,480 2004 160,450 2005 175,405 2006 173,805 2007 176,305 Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest five. Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
Figures are not available for earlier years than 2000. Also, figures for Cornwall and the South West are not available, only for England as a whole. It is not possible to separate applicants who have completed A-levels as opposed to other qualifications. Therefore figures for all English domiciled 18-year-old university applicants have been provided. Latest figures for 2008 entry show that, as at 15 January, 18-year-old applicants from England were up by 5 per cent.
The main measure for tracking progress on increasing participation in higher education is currently the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR). This is the sum of the HE initial participation rates for individual ages between 17 and 30 inclusive. It covers English-domiciled first time entrants to HE courses, which are expected to last for at least six months, at UK higher education institutions and English, Scottish and Welsh further education colleges, and who remain on their course for at least six months. An 18-year-old rate can be derived from this, and the available figures are shown in Table 2:
Percentage 17-30 age group 18-year-olds 1999/2000 39.3 19.3 2000/01 39.7 19.5 2001/02 40.2 19.6 2002/03 41.2 19.7 2003/04 40.3 19.2 2004/05 41.3 19.6 2005/06 42.8 21.3 Source: “Participation Rates in Higher Education: Academic Years 1999/2000 to 2005/06 (Provisional)” Statistical First Release, published by DfES.
Figures are not available for earlier years than 1999/2000. Figures for 2006/07 will become available in 2008. The HEIPR is not disaggregated below national level. The HEIPR does not distinguish between students who have completed A-levels as opposed to other qualifications.
For information, the percentage of 17-year-olds achieving one or more A-level has changed over the period 1994 to 2007 as follows:
Percentage 1994 29.1 1995 30.5 1996 31.0 1997 30.8 1998 33.3 1999 33.8 2000 34.9 2001 37.3 2002 39.0 2003 38.9 2004 39.4 2005 38.8 2006 39.0 2007 38.8 1 Includes Advanced GNVQ between 1998 and 2001. Note: Figures relate to 17-year-olds (age at start of academic year, i.e. 31 August) in all schools and colleges. Source: The figures are taken from the 2006/2007 SFR, published on 9 January, and can be found at http://www. dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000769/index.shtml