Outcomes and next steps
Student destinations
Every student’s next step is different. These figures show the range of destinations chosen by our Year 11 and Year 13 leavers, using the 2025 data confirmed on 7 October 2025.
Post-16 · 2025 leavers
Year 11 destinations
341students in cohort
196 · 57.5%continued at Wilmslow High School Sixth Form
121 · 35.5%progressed to further education colleges, sixth-form colleges or other school sixth forms
24 · 7.0%followed a range of other destinations or were in transition; these lower-count outcomes are grouped
Level 3 study: 76.5% of the Year 11 cohort secured places on Level 3 courses. This is the source report’s headline figure.
Post-18 · 2025 leavers
Year 13 destinations
220students in cohort
145 · 65.9%started a university course in September 2025: 62 at Russell Group universities and 83 at other universities
10 · 4.5%started a full-time apprenticeship
35 · 15.9%entered full-time or part-time employment: 19 full-time and 16 part-time
Other routes and transitions: the remaining 30 students were recorded across confirmed deferred entry, full-time education, sport or dance, national service and destinations not yet secured or confirmed. These outcomes are combined here.
A longer view
University destinations, 2019–2025
The chart shows the number of Year 13 students recorded as entering Russell Group or other universities for September entry. The cohort size is shown alongside each year so the counts have context.
Counts combine Russell Group and other university entries in the source report; deferred entries are not included in this chart.
| Year | University entries | Year 13 cohort |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 133 | 206 |
| 2020 | 149 | 204 |
| 2021 | 149 | 207 |
| 2022 | 141 | 202 |
| 2023 | 123 | 207 |
| 2024 | 147 | 211 |
| 2025 | 145 | 220 |
Detailed destinations
These tables retain the detail in the school’s 2025 destinations report. Blank historical cells are left blank where the source does not give a number. Deferred university places are identified where recorded. Small categories concerning personal circumstances are grouped.
Year 11 destination detail 2023 to 2025
| Destination | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilmslow High School Sixth Form | 211 (63%) | 202 (58%) | 196 (57%) |
| Manchester College | 13 | 3 | 14 |
| Cheadle and Marple College | 15 | 7 | 11 |
| Cheadle Hulme High School | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Pendleton College | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| David Lewis Centre | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Trafford College | 2 | 10 | 6 |
| Macclesfield College | 31 | 51 | 38 |
| Stockport College | 13 | 9 | 13 |
| Access Creative College, Manchester | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Blackpool and Fylde College | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Eirias High School, Colwyn Bay | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Warrington Vale College | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Loretto Sixth Form College | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Xavarian College | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Aquinas College | 3 | 7 | 5 |
| Reaseheath College | 6 | 2 | 7 |
| Fallibroome High School | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Holmes Chapel High School | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tameside College | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Cheshire College, Crewe | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Project INC Macclesfield Heritage Centre | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Springfield College Specialist School, Crewe | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Park Lane Special School, Macclesfield | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| King’s School, Macclesfield | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Eccles College | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| John Deane’s College | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| London School of Barbering | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Juniper College | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Manchester High School for Girls | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Salford City College | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Liverpool Media Academy | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Myerscough College | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Ayrshire College | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Congleton High School | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Moreton Morrell College, Warwickshire | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Loretto Grammar School | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ellesmere College | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Eaton Bank | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kirkham Grammar School | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ripon Grammar School | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Newman College | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Sparsholt College, Winchester | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Llangefni College, Wales | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| All Hallow’s, Macclesfield | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Alternative post-16 provider | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| Studying abroad (moved with parents) | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Sport with additional study (private provider) | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Apprenticeship with private assessor | 5 | 9 | 3 |
| Home schooling/online home study | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Working full-time with training promised | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Unable to contact | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Looking for a place in education, employment or training | 7 | 1 | |
| Other personal circumstances | 6 | 2 | 3 |
Year 13 destination detail 2019 to 2025
| Destination | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University – Russell Group for Sept entry | 57 | 74 | 68 | 53 | 46 | 74 | 62 |
| University – Non-Russell Group for Sept entry | 76 | 75 | 81 | 88 | 77 | 73 | 83 |
| Full time education – college/abroad/WHS | 8 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
| Full time employment (some will apply for following year UCAS entry) | 27 | 10 | 18 | 19 | 23 | 17 | 19 |
| Full time apprenticeship | 2 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 10 |
| Full time traineeship | 1 | ||||||
| UCAS following year entry already secured and gap year full time employment | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| UCAS following year entry already secured and gap year part time employment | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| UCAS following year entry already secured but not currently working | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Part time employment (some will apply for UCAS following year entry) | 15 | 19 | 10 | 8 | 23 | 21 | 16 |
| Full time sport/dance | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Nothing secured by Oct (although some in process of applying when contacted) | 10 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 7 |
| Other circumstances or no confirmed contact | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Universities recorded in 2025
| Destination Sept 2025 | Number | Percentage of cohort |
|---|---|---|
| Russell Group | ||
| Manchester | 3 (+2 deferred) | 1.4 (2.3 with deferred) |
| Cambridge | 4 | 1.8 |
| Newcastle | 5 | 2.3 |
| Leeds | 7 | 3.2 |
| Nottingham | 7 | 3.2 |
| Warwick | 3 (+1 deferred) | 1.4 (1.8 with deferred) |
| Bristol | 1 | 0.5 |
| Liverpool | 8 (+3 deferred) | 3.6 (5 with deferred) |
| Birmingham | 2 | 0.9 |
| Sheffield | 9 | 4.1 |
| York | 6 | 2.7 |
| Durham | 0 | 0 |
| Cardiff | 0 | |
| Edinburgh | 0 | |
| LSE | 0 | 0 |
| Exeter | 1 | 0.5 |
| Glasgow | 1 | 0.5 |
| King’s College, London | 2 | 0.9 |
| Imperial | 1 | 0.5 |
| Oxford | 1 | 0.5 |
| UCL | 1 | 0.5 |
| Total Russell Group - 62 (68 with deferred 2026) | Total Russell Group 28% of cohort (31% with deferred) | |
| Non-Russell Group | ||
| MMU | 15 (+1 deferred) | 6.8 (7.3 with deferred) |
| Lancaster | 3 (+1 deferred) | 1.4 (1.8 with deferred) |
| Sheffield Hallam | 4 | 1.8 |
| Northumbria | 6 (+ 2 deferred) | 2.7 (3.2 with deferred) |
| Keele | 5 | 2.3 |
| Nottingham Trent | 2 | 0.9 |
| Leeds Beckett | 4 (+2 deferred) | 1.8 (2.7 with deferred) |
| Loughborough | 3 | 1.4 |
| Salford | 6 (+1 deferred) | 2.7 (3.2 with deferred) |
| Liverpool John Moores | 11 (+2 deferred) | 5 (5.9 with deferred) |
| Chester | 2 | 0.9 |
| University of Central Lancashire | 2 | 0.9 |
| Bath Spa | 3 | 1.4 |
| Leicester | 2 (+1 deferred) | 0.9 (1.4 with deferred) |
| Bath | 2 | 0.9 |
| Brighton and Sussex | 2 | 0.9 |
| UA92 | 4 | 1.8 |
| York St John | 1 | 0.5 |
| Dundee | 1 | 0.5 |
| Derby | 2 | 0.9 |
| Leeds Trinity | 1 | 0.5 |
| Cardiff Metropolitan | 1 | 0.5 |
| Huddersfield | 1 | 0.5 |
| Total non-Russell Group 83 (93 with deferred) | Total non-Russell Group 37.7% of the cohort (42.3% with deferred) |
Apprenticeship levels in 2025
| Level | Students |
|---|---|
| Degree | 3 |
| Higher/Level 4 | 1 |
| Level 3 | 6 |
| Level 2 | 0 |
Traineeships in 2025
| Route | Students |
|---|---|
| Traineeship | 0 |