Why do so many of our bright teenagers drop out of education?

"There has been endless debate about how many teenagers should go to university and how they should be chosen, but today’s report by the Higher Education Policy Institute shows that the important question is about what happens at 16 and 17.

Not only is the UK miles behind other industrialised nations in the numbers remaining in education between 16 and 19 – below 70 per cent, compared with an OECD average of 81 per cent – but it now transpires that many of the brightest teenagers are among those dropping out. According to HEPI, more than half of those with seven good GCSEs - and an astonishing one in seven who achieve ten A-C grades – do not go on to A level or an equivalent qualification, let alone university.

You can argue about whether they should all go on to higher education, but surely 19,000 teenagers with ten good GCSEs should not be dropping out of education at 16 or 17. Legislation announced in last week’s Queen’s Speech would have prevented them from doing so, but why is it happening now?

Part of the explanation is cultural: some sections of society are yet to be convinced of the value of education. Some 54 per cent of university students have fathers who are graduates, compared with half that figure in the population as a whole. It is a fair bet that many of HEPI’s drop-outs come from families and neighbourhoods with a tradition of leaving school at the earliest possible opportunity.

Another factor is that decisions about staying on at 16 are already about whether to go to university. Nine out of ten teenagers taking A levels enter higher education, but too many of the others are bored with learning as they have experienced it up to GCSE, think they won’t make the grade, or just want to earn some money as soon as possible.

Between the ages of 11 and 16, seven out of ten expect to go to university, but less than half of them do. Logically enough, the fewer good GCSEs they get, the less likely they are to stay on at school or college. But the sheer numbers dropping out suggest that a lot of schools are providing poor careers advice: other OECD figures show that the earnings gap between the drop-outs and those who stay on is bigger than in any comparable country.

Perhaps we have reached the low point in this waste of talent. Soon, everyone will have to continue with some form of education until the age of 18 and even before then, the new diplomas and expanded apprenticeships may persuade more teenagers not to drop out. In the recession, too, there will be even fewer earning opportunities for 16-year-olds, with or without seven GCSEs. But it does not say much for secondary schools if that is what it takes to encourage teenagers with ten GCSEs to continue their studies."