Best Schools - The proportion of young people in England going to university has passed the symbolic 50% mark for t

Figures from the Department for Education, for 2017-18, show 50.2% of people going into higher education.

The figures are higher for women, where 57% are going to university.

The annual statistics on entry to higher education show the proportion of people set to go to university before the age of 30.

It comes almost exactly 20 years after then Prime Minister Tony Blair made the call for half of young adults to go into higher education.

These latest figures are only a fraction higher than the year before - up from 49.9% - but after years of steady increases, it means a majority of young adults are now going on to higher education.

It shows a significant social change over the decades.

In 1980, only 15% stayed in full-time education after the age of 18, in any kind of training or further or higher education, including universities and what were then polytechnics.

By 1990, that had risen to 25% for all forms of post-18 education, according to House of Commons library figures.

Elstree School to become coeducational in 2020

Following several years of discussion and planning, Elstree School has announced that it is to become coeducational from September 2020.

Following a transition period of six years, girls and boys aged three to 13 will be able to study at the Berkshire school. The change will be gradual, said the institution, to help keep the staff-to-pupil ratio low.

“I am delighted to be leading one of the most exciting transformations in the history of Elstree,” said headmaster, Sid Inglis.

“It has become clear in recent years that both our current and prospective parents are looking for a family focused school: one that offers the same opportunities and ambitions for their daughters, as it does for their sons.

“After an intensive period of strategic research and planning over the last two years, not to mention the numerous enquiries [my wife] Olivia and I have received about coeducation, we have decided that now is the most appropriate time to consolidate our strengths to embrace the modern world.”