ADR Wales, through the Data Acquisition and Linking for Research (DALfR) team within Welsh Government, has published a new statistical article examining the relationship between year 11 attendance and progression to post‑16 education in Wales between September 2016 and August 2024.
The analysis brings together several key education sources, including the Pupil Level Annual School Census (PLASC), Post‑16 Education data collection, the Lifelong Learning Wales Record (LLWR), and school attendance records. By linking these datasets, ADR Wales analysts were able to explore how attendance in year 11 affects young people’s transition from compulsory schooling into post-16 education.
Using logistic regression, the analysis investigates how strongly attendance predicts progression to post‑16 education, while also examining how attendance interacts with a range of pupil characteristics and contextual factors. The study also examines how the relationship between year 11 attendance and progression to post-16 education has changed from the pre-pandemic to the post-pandemic period.
The findings provide an important contribution to the evidence base supporting education policy in Wales. By enhancing understanding of the drivers behind post‑16 participation, the work aims to support the development of more targeted interventions that improve outcomes for learners and help reduce inequalities in access to education and training.
The full statistical article is available here.