People leave education at all different ages but recently there has been a change in the law. As of September 2013, students who are looking to leave school at the age of 16 will have to stay in some sort of education until they are 17 (this then rose again to 18 in September 2015). This means they are able to leave school but will either have to go to college or take up an apprenticeship or a part-time training course.
The idea of this new laws is to ensure that as many young people as possible stay in education up until they are at least 18. This is because research has shown that those who do stay in education until they are 18 often get better paid jobs, are healthier and also are less likely to get in trouble with the police.
Each person is different and what suits one student may not suit another, but there is a wide variety of opportunities open to every young person which should mean everyone can find something that they enjoy.