Highest educational qualification achieved
The 2021 Census asked adults aged 16 or over to provide information on all educational qualifications achieved.
Highest level of educational qualification, percent (adults aged 16 to 64)
Higher education
| 13% | 34% | 42% |
Secondary level
| 48% | 45% | 42% |
| Other | 6% | 2% | 1% |
| No formal qualifications | 34% | 20% | 15% |
Source: Statistics Jersey (Census)
Number of pupils
Source: Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department, download the chart data.
Non-provided schools are all those schools which are privately operated. It should be noted that Victoria College and Jersey College for Girls are both government secondary schools and Victoria College Preparatory School and Jersey College Preparatory School are both government primary schools.
For more information on the characteristics of Jersey's schools and pupils see the schools, pupils and their characteristics report.
Attainment at GCSE
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) all summer examinations in 2020 and 2021 were cancelled. In the November and January of each academic year, a small number of international GCSEs (iGCSEs) were sat by Jersey students. These were mostly in English and Mathematics.
In 2020, pupils scheduled to sit GCSE exams were awarded centre assessment grades (CAGs). These were based on whichever was the highest of the following:
- what the school or college believed the student would most likely have achieved had examinations gone ahead.
- the student's calculated grade using a model developed by Ofqual.
In 2021, pupils were only assessed on the content they had been taught for each course. Schools were given flexibility to decide how to assess their pupils’ performance. Examples would be through mock exams, class tests, and the use of non-exam assessment already completed. GCSE grades were then determined by teachers based on the range of evidence available and they are referred to as teacher-assessed grades (TAGs).
As a result, the 2019/20 and 2020/21 data should not be directly compared to attainment data from previous years for the purposes of measuring changes in student performance.
England’s data is provided below, direct comparisons cannot be made between England and Jersey at GCSE as slightly different methodologies are used.
Attainment at GCSE in England and Jersey for the period 2017 to 2021
Pupils achieving standard passes (4/C+) in English and Mathematics
| | | | | |
England
| 59.1% | 59.4% | 59.8% | 65.9% | 67.1% |
Jersey
| 66.6% | 69.3% | 64.6% | 75.6% | 78.6% |
Pupils achieving strong passes (5/B+) in English and Mathematics
| | | | | |
England
| 39.6% | 40.2% | 40.1% | 46.3% | 48.4% |
Jersey
| 39.1% | 45.5% | 41.6% | 53.9% | 58.0% |
Pupils achieving Attainment 8 (England) / Average Jersey 8 (Jersey)
| | | | | |
England
| 44.6% | 44.5% | 44.7% | 48.0% | 48.9% |
Jersey
| -
| 47.2% | 46.9% | 51.0% | 54.1% |
Source: Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department
You can find out more about past attainment at GCSE in GCSE and equivalent results in Jersey 2018 to 2019 or the exam results page on the Government of Jersey website.
Participation at A-level or equivalent (also known as ‘level three qualifications’)
Key Stage 5 covers 16 to 18-year-olds in six Jersey schools and colleges. Level 3 qualifications include A-Levels, the International Baccalaureate, and vocational courses.
In 2020/2021, a total of 727 pupils reaching the end of Key Stage 5 in Jersey entered at least one substantial level 3 qualification. This suggests that 73.4 per cent of ‘the potential end of Key Stage 5 cohort’ continued with level 3 qualifications after completing Key Stage 4.
Attainment at A-level
The average point score per A-level entry in Jersey in 2020/21 was 41.3. The average point score per A level entry in Jersey for males (38.9) was lower than that for females (43.4).
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the summer examination series was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021. Due to this, alternative processes were set up to award grades. Data from these academic years should not be directly compared to attainment data from previous years for the purposes of measuring change in student performance.
Participation rate in all level 3 qualifications
| 68.0% | 68.2% | 72.1% | 73.7% | 73.4% |
Average points score per A level entry
| 35.0 | 36.8 | 35.9 | 40.0 | 41.3 |
Source: Children, Young People, Education and Skills Department
gov.je