Attainment of five A* to C grades or equivalent (Level 2)

Another way of looking at outcomes is to make an assessment of progress towards the national target relating to Level 2 achievement. The attainment of young people who had participated in IFP can be expressed in terms of the proportions who had achieved level 2 at key stage 4 which equates to five A* to C GCSE passes. This analysis revealed that, taking into account the effect of prior attainment and other background and school characteristics, students in schools that were participating in IFP had a similar probability of achieving Level 2 at key stage 4 to similar students in schools that were not participating in IFP. For example, a ‘typical’ student who attained Level 5 at key stage 3 and did not attend a school that was participating in IFP had a 47 per cent

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The typical student was male, white, not recognised as having SEN, not eligible for free school meals and attended an 11-18, non-specialist comprehensive school.

probability of achieving Level 2 at key stage 4. A similar student, who was not participating in IFP but attended a school that was participating in IFP had a 46 per cent probability of attaining Level 2 at key stage 4. In comparison, students who were similar in all respects, including in their prior attainment, but had taken GCSEs in vocational subjects, NVQs or other vocational qualifications through IFP, had a lower probability of attaining Level 2. More specifically, to illustrate this finding:

• a typical student who had participated in IFP, and had had taken a GCSE

in a vocational subject, had a 40 per cent probability of attaining Level 2

• a typical student who had participated in IFP, and had taken an NVQ, had

a 24 per cent probability of attaining Level 2

• a typical student who had participated in IFP and had taken an other

vocational qualification had a 19 per cent probability of attaining Level 2

• in contrast, a typical student who had taken a GNVQ through IFP had a

higher probability (60 per cent) of attaining Level 2.

Although students whose key stage 3 levels were higher than those of the ‘typical’ student (level 5) had an increased probability of attaining Level 2, the difference between IFP participants who took NVQs, other vocational qualifications and GCSEs in vocational subjects, and their peers who did not participate in IFP, or those who took GNVQs through IFP, remain. In other words, students who took these qualifications through IFP had a decreased probability of attaining Level 2 at key stage 4, regardless of their prior attainment.

In considering these findings, it is worth noting that the majority of students who engaged with NVQs and other vocational qualifications through IFP were pursuing level 1 qualifications which could not, therefore, contribute to their overall achievement of Level 2. For such students, the possibility of attaining Level 2 overall would be dependent upon their achievements in their GCSEs where they would need to achieve five or more passes at grades A* to C to attain Level 2. Furthermore, as attaining Level 2 entails the achievement of passes in GCSEs at grades A* to C, the lower probability of students gaining Level 2 who had studied GCSEs in vocational subjects through IFP may reflect the finding that a minority of these students (36 per cent) attained A* to C grades in their GCSEs in vocational subjects. In addition, these qualifications account for two GCSEs and those students who attained D to G grades would be dependent on having achieved A* to C in the majority of their remaining GCSEs to attain Level 2 overall.

Among the students taking GNVQs, those who gained an intermediate level GNVQ achieved a qualification that contributed to Level 2 while those who gained a foundation GNVQ achieved a level 1 qualification that would not contribute to their overall Level 2 achievement. The majority of IFP students

who had taken a GNVQ had taken an intermediate level qualification. The size of the GNVQ qualification may also influence this finding. Successful completion of a GNVQ at intermediate level broadly equates to passing four GCSEs at A* to C. Consequently, students who took this type of qualification, and passed, could achieve Level 2 through gaining a GNVQ and one other GCSE at A* to C as distinct from achieving A* to C in five separate qualifications.

2.6 In summary

It appears that, overall, students who participated in IFP, and took GCSEs in vocational subjects, GNVQs and NVQs attained higher points at key stage 4 than similar students who did not undertake any vocational qualifications and did not participate in IFP. In addition, students who had lower attainment at key stage 3, and participated in IFP, benefited more in terms of the points achieved at key stage 4 than IFP participants who were similar but had higher prior attainment. However, those who had taken other vocational qualifications through IFP did not perform as well at key stage 4 as a whole, as might be expected, given their prior attainment and other background characteristics. Moreover, although IFP students who had taken GCSEs in vocational subjects and GNVQs gained more points than might have been expected had they not taken these qualifications, they attained fewer points at key stage 4 than similar students, who took the same types of qualifications, but did not participate in IFP. While the reasons for this are unclear, these findings suggest that there may be some aspect of the nature of IFP, or the young people’s attitudes, that influences the outcomes for those who participate in the programme. This will be explored in the remainder of the chapter.