Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many school leavers in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) Merseyside, (c) the North West and (d) the UK who were (i) entitled and (ii) not entitled to free school meals went to university in the last five years for which information is available.

Information is given on the number and percentage of students completing key stage 5 study (A level and other level 3 qualifications) in mainstream state funded schools and colleges and progressing to study at a UK Higher Education Institution for at least two terms the following year; in each of the last four years for which information is available.

The tables below show comparable figures for: a) St Helens North constituency; b) Merseyside metropolitan county (comprising Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral); c) The North West region; and d) England. The department does not hold information on students leaving schools in other constituent countries of the UK. Numbers of pupils are shown rounded to the nearest ten, as published. Percentages are calculated on unrounded figures.

In each of the last four years, around 10 students in St Helens North constituency who had been eligible for free school meals in year 11 (FSM) and completed key stage 5 study progressed to higher education. These represented between 31% and 52% of the FSM students completing key stage 5 study. For students who had not been eligible for free school meals (non-FSM) between 110 and 160 students in St Helens North progressed to higher education each year, representing between 48% and 63% of such students completing key stage 5.

Information on pupil destinations at local authority, regional and national level is published annually on gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-destinations

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d)