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Literature Review of Student Choices at 18

The three reports are now published and available at:

Choices that students make between academic, technical and vocational routes

Graduate job and career choices

Wider benefits of post-18 education for individuals and society

IER has been commissioned to undertake a literature and evidence review to underpin the recently announced consultation of post-18 education and training. There are three different studies covering different aspects of post-18 provision, this one focuses on the choices that students make between academic, technical, and vocational routes after 18, and whether these choices are effective and reliably informed. The key research questions are:

How do students choose between Higher Education (HE), Further Education (FE) and Apprenticeships, what factors are important and which information sources are used and are effective?Once a route has been chosen, what influences choice within that route e.g. provider, course and mode of study, and which factors are important in those decisions?How does the available information about finance influence the choices students make?What are the decision making processes of mature students covering the above questions?

In addition to a formal literature review, and a review of ‘grey’ materials, and analysis of HE, FE and Apprenticeship data was also undertaken.

Project Team:

Peter Dickinson - Principal Investigator

Beate Baldauf

Wil Hunt

Alan Brown


Project Duration:

April 2018 - July 2018

Project Funder:

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