Participation in further education in England and Wales: an analysis of post-war trends

The paper examines the time-series evidence relating to participationrates in further education in England and Wales and, using cointegrationanalysis, identifies a long-run statistical relationship inthe data consistent with an augmented human-capital model. Therecent rapid growth of participation is largely attributableto the improvements in GCSE attainment, coupled with the expansionof higher education, of the last decade. Fluctuations in labourdemand play a significant role in determining the movementsof participation rates over time, and the substantial rise inyouth unemployment of the early 1990s contributed to the growthin participation at this time.