This Statistics Publication Notice presents national and Education Authority level information on the destinations of young people leaving Scottish schools (publicly funded and grant-aided secondary schools) and updates the publication "Destinations of Leavers from Scottish Schools: 2006/07". Data linking the destinations of school leavers to pupil characteristics, and limited information on leavers from independent secondary schools, is presented in the accompanying tables
The Statistics Publication Notice and accompanying tables can be found on the Scottish Government Web Site: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00701
The Main Findings for Leaver Destinations from Publicly Funded Secondary Schools are:
- Just under 87 per cent of 2007/08 school leavers are in positive destinations (higher education, further education, employment, voluntary work or training), virtually unchanged from 2006/07
- The proportion of young people entering further or higher education has risen from just under 53 per cent in 2006/07 to just under 56 per cent in 2007/08
- The proportion of leavers entering employment has decreased by around 3 percentage points to just over 25 per cent in 2007/08
- The proportion who are unemployed and seeking employment or training has remained relatively stable at around 11 per cent over the last three years
- The proportion who are unemployed and not seeking employment or training has increased slightly from 1.2 per cent in 2006/07 to 1.5 per cent in 2007/08
More detailed analysis of these destinations is presented in the following sections. Firstly, information is provided on leavers who enter positive destinations, as defined in the Scottish Budget Spending Review 2007. Positive destinations include higher education, further education, employment, voluntary work and training. The report then goes on to consider all other destinations and presents the results of an analysis of leaver destinations by gender, other pupil characteristics, and attainment of qualifications.
Leavers from Publicly Funded Secondary Schools who enter Positive Destinations
The proportion of school leavers entering positive destinations in 2007/08 is just under 87 per cent, virtually unchanged from 2006/07. Girls are more likely than boys to enter positive destinations upon leaving school.
Analysis of change over time
From 2006/07 onwards it is possible to separately identify those entering voluntary work. As these leavers used to be included in the figures for unemployed not seeking work, data from years prior to 2006/07 is not directly comparable. However those entering voluntary work account for a very small proportion of all school leavers (0.2 per cent in 2007/08).
The proportion of school leavers entering full-time employment was just over 25 per cent in 2007/08, down 3 percentage points compared to the 2006/07 figure of just over 28 per cent.
The proportion of school leavers entering training has remained at around 5 per cent since 2004/05. Proportions entering higher or further education have both increased by around 1.5 percentage points since 2006/07, to reach 31 and 25 per cent respectively.
Leavers from Publicly Funded Secondary Schools who enter Other Destinations
Other destinations include unemployed and seeking employment or training, unemployed and not seeking, and unknown. The 'unemployed and not seeking employment or training' category (which included those entering voluntary work prior to 2006/07) has risen by about half a percentage point to 1.5 per cent in 2007/08.
School leavers with an unknown destination may be in a positive destination. However analysis of the 2006/07 follow up survey 1 showed that 36 per cent of leavers in 2006/07 with an unknown initial destination had a positive follow up destination in spring 2008, compared to around 87 per cent of all leavers. Nearly half were still in unknown destinations.
note: In 2002/03, the 'other known destinations' category was split into 'unemployed and seeking employment or training' and 'unemployed and not seeking employment or training'.
Unemployed and not seeking category included those entering voluntary work prior to 2006/07
Destinations of School Leavers from Publicly Funded Secondary Schools by Gender
Girls are more likely to enter full-time further or higher education than boys after leaving school, while boys are more likely to enter the categories of training, employment or unemployed and seeking.
A similar pattern has been observed in previous years. After appearing to widen in 2006/07 compared to 2005/06, the gender gap has narrowed slightly in 2007/08. The proportion of boys entering employment is now nine percentage points higher than the proportion of girls, compared with eleven percentage points higher in 2006/07. The proportion of girls entering further or higher education is just under 14 percentage points higher than the proportion of boys, compared with over 15 percentage points higher in 2006/07.
Destinations of School Leavers from Publicly Funded Secondary Schools by Other Characteristics
Analysis of school leaver characteristics and location help to identify the groups of young people who are at risk of not entering a positive destination when they leave school.
Living in one of the most deprived areas, as defined by the 2006 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation ( SIMD) is a strong indicator that a school leaver is less likely to enter a positive destination. Around 77 per cent of school leavers from the ten per cent most deprived areas entered a positive destination compared with just over 93 per cent of those from the ten per cent least deprived areas. Similarly, around 13 per cent of those from the most deprived areas entered higher education, compared with nearly 56 per cent of those from the least deprived areas.
Those school leavers who live in large urban areas are less likely to enter a positive destination than those from more rural areas, although this may be linked to deprivation since many deprived areas are in urban locations.
Staying-on in school past the minimum leaving age is a good indicator that the young person will enter a positive destination upon leaving school. Over 94 per cent of school leavers who left at the end of S6 entered a positive destination, compared with around three quarters (76 per cent) of those who left at the end of S4.
Leavers with Additional Support Needs ( ASN) are less likely to enter a positive destination than those without. Around 87 per cent of school leavers with no recorded ASN entered a positive destination compared with around 84 per cent of those with a Record of Needs ( RoN) or a Co-ordinated Support Plan ( CSP) and just over 75 per cent of those with an Individualised Educational Programme, but no RoN or CSP.
Attainment of qualifications also has an impact on positive destinations. Of the unemployed seeking group, 83 per cent have no qualifications at Higher or better, compared to 54 per cent of all leavers.