Pupils leaving studio schools at 16 are almost three times less likely to be in their chosen job or course by the following March than the average pupil.
New figures, published by the Department for Education today, show that 5 per cent of pupils in all state-funded schools failed to stay in their initial post-16 destination for six months.
But for pupils at studio schools, the proportion rose to 14 per cent, and for those who took key stage 4 courses at further education colleges, it was 21 per cent.
Studio schools are specialist 14-19 institutions which focus on teaching through “enterprise projects and real work” in partnership with local employers.
For university technology colleges, which also take in pupils at 14, the percentage failing to stay in their post-16 destination was lower, at 6 per cent.
Figures ‘subject to volatility’
The data also reveals that UTCs, studio schools and FE colleges have more than double the percentage of pupils going into employment after key stage 4 than other types of schools - 7 per cent each compared with a national average of 3 per cent.
However, the government warns that the data “may be subject to volatility” due to the small numbers of studio schools and pupils in FE colleges with 14 to 16 provision.
It adds that: “The picture of the sector given in these statistics only includes some of the first schools of these types [UTCs, studio schools and FE colleges] to open and many only had students joining for the last year of key stage 4 study.”
Student destinations by school type
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