7. THE BEST START FOR ALL OUR YOUNG PEOPLE
A key challenge for policy makers is to ensure that young people get the best possible start in adult life. Equipping young people with the skills, experience and attitude they need to participate in the labour market and more widely in society will be integral to achieving this objective. The three key performance indicators are:
- The proportion of young people (aged 16 to 19) that are not in education, employment or training ( NEET)
- The proportion of young people (aged 20 to 24) achieving NVQ level 3 qualifications and above
- The proportion of young people with basic skills (reading, maths and science)
Young people not in education, employment or training ( NEET)
The transition between compulsory education and further education and training or employment is a challenging time for young people. Time spent outside of education, employment or training can undermine a young person's employment chances later on in life. 10
- In 2005, 14 per cent of those aged between 16 and 19 in Scotland were not in education, employment or training, an improvement compared with the position in 1999, but up slightly from 2004.
- The proportion of the young people that are NEET in Scotland remains significantly above the UK average of 11.5 per cent. Scotland is in the bottom quartile when comparing with other parts of the UK, though regional differences outwith the south of England are small.
- The closest international comparison is of unemployment among people aged 15-24. Scotland is top of the third quartile with a rate of 13.9 per cent.
Chart 15: The proportion of young people that are NEET. A higher proportion of young people in Scotland are not in education, employment or training compared with UK average.
Source: 2004 to 2005 data is sourced from the Annual Population survey (January-December) provided by Scottish Executive. 1999 to 2003 data are LFS quarters combined (March-February) provided by Scottish Executive.
Proportion of young people achieving NVQ level 3 qualifications and above
The proportion of young people that have achieved NVQ level 3 or equivalent qualifications provides some indication of their skill levels. Evidence from the Annual Population Survey suggests that a higher proportion of young people in Scotland have achieved qualifications at level 3 or above than in any other UK region.
- In 2005, 69.3 per cent of those aged between 20 and 24 in Scotland had achieved NVQ level 3 qualifications and above. This was the highest of all UK regions, placing Scotland at the top of the first quartile.
- This represents a significant improvement since 1999, when 64.5 per cent of Scotland's young people had achieved qualifications of this level.
Chart 16: The proportion of young people achieving NVQ level 3 qualifications and above. A higher proportion of young people in Scotland hold NVQ level 3 qualifications or above than in any other UK region.
Source: 2005 data is sourced from the Annual Population survey (January-December) provided by Scottish Executive. 1999 data is LFS quarters combined (March-February) provided by Scottish Executive.
Proportion of school pupils with basic skills
Scotland also ranks highly when considering the basic skills of those coming through compulsory education. The Programme for International Education Assessment ( PISA) provides standardised tests for young people in the areas of science, mathematics and reading. Although not a single, direct measure of basic skills, the standardised test indicators are a good proxy. Average test scores can be used to make direct comparisons of the basic skills of young people. On this basis Scotland performs strongly, falling just outside of the first quartile on each of these skills in 2003:
- The average science test scores among young people in Scotland exceeded the average across the OECD, placing Scotland at the top of the second quartile.
- Young people in Scotland also demonstrate strong mathematical skills with average test scores significantly above the OECD average and near the top of the second quartile.
- Similarly, test scores for reading in Scotland were also strong in comparison to OECD trends and were in the first quartile.
- For science, mathematics and reading there was, however, a decline in test scores between 2000 and 2003, although this has been the case across a number of OECD countries.
Chart 17: School pupils with adequate transferable skills (2003). Scotland performs well on measures of the transferable skills of young people.
Source: Scottish Executive Education Department (2002) Programme for International Student Assessment, Scottish Report. OECD (2004) Learning for Tomorrow's World: First Results from PISA 2003.
Notes: The UK sample was too small for the 2003 study and student bias was found. Data has not been released as it is statistically unreliable. However, the sample for Scotland met the rigorous sampling criteria.
Summary Position
While there has been decline in the NEET group in Scotland over the last six years, the proportion of young people that are outside of education, employment or training remains higher in Scotland than is average across the UK.
That said, Scotland's young people typically possess higher skills than other UK regions and perform well by international standards when considering the transferable skills of reading, mathematics and science.