• In 2005/06, 59 per cent of pupils entered for the GCSE or equivalent exam in the UK achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C or the equivalent, an increase of 14 percentage points since 1995/96. (Figure 3.13) Latest information on educational attainment
• In 2006/07, there were nearly 33,900 schools in the UK, attended by 9.8 million pupils. (Table 3.3)
• The unauthorised absence rate for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, in maintained secondary schools in England, was almost three times that of the rest of the school population in 2005/06. (Page 34)
• In 2005, around eight in ten children aged 14 and 15 in England agreed, or strongly agreed, that they were happy at school (82 per cent) and liked being at school (80 per cent). (Table 3.8)
• In 2005/06, there were 4.5 million further education students in the UK, more than two and a half times the number in 1970/71. (Table 3.9)
• In Q2 2007, employees in the UK who were graduates were more likely to receive job-related training than those with no qualifications, 20 per cent compared with 4 per cent respectively. (Table 3.18)