Schools should be sharing accurate and timely data with the local authority on pupil transitions and destinations. Gatsby recommends that schools collect and maintain accurate data for each pupil on their destinations for 3 years after they leave year 11.
A destinations good practice guide has been created and can be viewed below.
Our Compass tool was developed in partnership with the Gatsby foundation to assess a school’s performance against the Gatsby benchmarks which state for ‘Schools should collect and maintain accurate data for each pupil on their education, training or employment destinations for at least three years after they leave the school.’ The benchmarks set a high standard of career guidance based on international research and best practice. DfE have recognised that this may be difficult for some schools but encourage schools to begin to put processes in place that will help them make better use of destination data. For ideas on how this can be achieved please refer to the DfE Good Practice Guide.
The expectation of 3 year destination tracking is from KS4. We would encourage sixth forms / colleges to track from KS5 because we think it would be useful to help reflect on provision and advice given as well as inform future programmes, but it is not an expectation.
For a school to track a student’s destinations after 16 years old, they will need the young person’s consent (unless the student is at a school sixth form, in which case the school does not need consent). It is recommended that schools routinely seek consent from their students in Year 11 to collect and maintain information on them once they have left school Young people can give consent from the age of 14. The DfE created a good template in their best practice guide which you can tailor for your school.
Schools and colleges must report on the intended destinations of Year 11 and 12 students as part of the September guarantee process. Each LA must ensure that every young person has a secured place in an education or training provider up to the age of 18. Each LA has a different timeline and process for this so please check with your own LA.
There are a number of ways to collect destination data that are not too labour intensive. You could consider: