University applications: Are schools or colleges best?

Ucas data on students accepted into university from different post-16 providers has thrown up some surprises...
14th November 2019, 5:26pm

Academies have the highest success rate in terms of first-time applicants to higher education, Tes can reveal. Data from application body Ucas reveals the number of applications and acceptances of young people from different types of post-16 providers across the UK. 

It reveals the proportion of successful acceptances for the September 2018 academic year was highest for those applying from academies - followed by those from sixth-form colleges. Applicants from further education colleges were more likely to be successful than those from grammar schools

Ucas data: What the numbers tell us

The highest proportion of acceptances in the most recent figures was recorded by academies (87.81 per cent), followed by sixth-form colleges (87.61 per cent), independent schools (87.14 per cent), other state schools (85.52 per cent), FE colleges (83.76 per cent) and grammar schools (82.49 per cent).

Over the last 10 years, colleges have seen the largest percentage point increase in the proportion of applicants to FE accepted of any type of post-16 provider - from 80.62 per cent in 2008-09 to 83.76 in 2018-19.