Social Focus on Deprived Areas 2005

Chapter Five: Education, Skills and Training

Education, Skills and Training

The Education, Skills and Training domain of the SIMD 2004 makes use of five indicators to directly measure lack of educational qualifications in children and adults, absenteeism and progression to Higher or Further education. The inclusion of the education domain in the SIMD is based on evidence that education is an indirect indicator of causes and consequences that are strongly associated with deprivation e.g. lower paid jobs. This chapter provides information on the education, skills and training of the population living in the most deprived areas across Scotland, compared with the rest of the country. Some of the indicators included in the SIMD 2004 education domain are considered in their absolute form showing, for example, the average pupil performance at SQA stage 4. The chapter also includes other indicators which present a broader assessment of education in these areas.

Developments in Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics and ScotXed now allow analysis of education statistics at the individual level aggregated up to data zones. This form of analysis complements the usual analysis at school and local authority level.

Key points

Pre-school children from the 15% most deprived areas are more likely to receive local authority or voluntary childcare, and less likely to receive private childcare, than children from the rest of Scotland.
Across all publicly funded special schools, proportionately more pupils (34 per cent) came from the 15% most deprived areas than the rest of Scotland.
Pupils from the 15% most deprived areas are much more likely to be registered for free school meals (45 per cent in 15% most deprived, 11 per cent in the rest of Scotland).
Absence from school is more of a problem in the 15% most deprived areas. Almost 15 per cent of potential half days of attendance were lost through absence in the 15% most deprived areas, compared with just over eight per cent in the rest of Scotland.
Pupils from the 15% most deprived areas are less likely to achieve expected levels of 5-14 attainment than pupils from Scotland as a whole.
Average tariff scores at S4 are considerably lower in the 15% most deprived areas (average score: 122) than in the rest of Scotland (average score: 178).
In the 15% most deprived areas, more pupils (11 per cent) leave publicly funded secondary schools without any qualifications than the rest of the Scotland (three per cent).
Of the SFEFC funded students enrolled on further education level courses in Further Education Colleges, 18 per cent were from the 15% most deprived data zones and the remaining 82 per cent were from the rest of Scotland. This means that compared with the resident population, relatively more enrolments were from the 15% most deprived areas.
Of all higher education graduates from Scotland in 2002/3, 5.5 per cent were from the 10% most deprived areas compared with 14.9 per cent from the 10% least deprived areas.

Pre-school education and childcare

In 2004, over 240,000 places with registered pre-school or childcare providers were filled. Data on pre-school education and childcare presented here refer only to registered providers as the numbers of children receiving informal or unregistered childcare is not known.

There are many different services offered by different types of pre-school and childcare centres. In 2004, centres in the 15% most deprived areas were more likely to offer services such as parents' groups, parents' rooms, adult education facilities, family support services, family centres, out of school clubs, holiday play schemes and crèches than those in the rest of Scotland. This reflects government policies aimed at supporting deprived families with very young children and helping parents get back to work.

In general, there were more filled places with registered providers in the 15% most deprived areas in nurseries, crèches and family centres than in the rest of Scotland (where there were higher proportions of places filled in play groups and with registered childminders).

In Scotland, all children aged three and four years old are eligible for a free part-time pre-school place. Children are entitled to 412.5 hours of funded pre-school education over 33 weeks. This usually means that a child is offered five sessions of education a week, of about 2.5 hours each. Local authorities have a duty to ensure that enough places are available for all three and four year olds whose parents want them to attend. It therefore follows that in 2004, the majority of children filling pre-school education and childcare places were aged three and four (Table 5.1). These two age groups accounted for around half of all places filled. The proportion of childcare places filled in 2004 in all age groups did not vary with level of deprivation.

Table 5.1: Number of places filled at registered pre-school or childcare providers, by age, 2004
Numbers, column percentages

	Number of places			Percentage of places
	15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland	15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
by 0-2 years	6,826	40,270	47,095	17.9	19.7	19.4
by 3-4 years	19,239	95,540	114,779	50.4	46.7	47.3
by 5-6 years	5,605	30,387	35,992	14.7	14.9	14.8
by 7-12 years +	6,466	38,271	44,737	17.0	18.7	18.4
Total	38,136	204,467	242,604	100.0	100.0	100.0

Source: 2004 Pre-school and Childcare Census and 2004 Childminder Survey
Note: Data include children attending childminders.

In 2004, in the 15% most deprived areas, 52 per cent of childcare places were in local authority provided centres compared with 38 per cent in the rest of Scotland (Chart 5.2). There was also a higher percentage of places in voluntary childcare in the 15% most deprived areas (25 per cent) than in the rest of Scotland (19 per cent). There was a significantly lower percentage of private childcare places (21 per cent) in the 15% most deprived areas than in the rest of Scotland (41 per cent).

Chart 5.2: Childcare places filled, by type of provider, 2004
Percentages

Chart 5.2: Childcare places filled, by type of provider, 2004 image

Source: 2004 Pre-school and Childcare Census and 2004 Childminder Survey
Note: Data are for registered childcare providers only.

Chart 5.3: Childcare places filled, by centre type, 2004
Percentages

Chart 5.3: Childcare places filled, by centre type, 2004 image

Source: 2004 Pre-school and Childcare Census and 2004 Childminder Survey
Note: Data are for registered childcare providers only.

All school pupils: numbers, sex and ethnicity

Across Scotland in the academic year 2003/4, there were 732,122 children attending publicly funded primary, secondary and special schools (see Appendix 1 for a definition of special schools). The data zone in which they live has been identified for 722,114 (99 per cent) of these children. The analysis of sex and ethnicity is based on these children, which are assumed to be representative of the total.

In 2003/4, 17 per cent of pupils in all school types lived in one of the 15% most deprived areas and the proportion is similar in primary and secondary schools. In special schools, however, a much higher proportion, just over 34 per cent, live in the 15% most deprived areas (Table 5.4).

In 2003/4, the sex ratio in all primary and secondary schools was approximately 50:50, however, in special schools the majority (67 per cent) of pupils were male.

The general composition of pupils is very similar in primary and secondary schools within the 15% most deprived, the rest of Scotland and across the whole of Scotland. In special schools, however, pupil composition differs slightly, in terms of their share of pupils living in the rest of Scotland and also sex ratio. The former may be explained by research which indicates a link between deprivation and some types of special educational needs. It may also be explained by the cost-effectiveness of providing special schools in urban areas, coinciding with where there are higher levels of deprivation. Rural authorities might be more likely to provide additional support within mainstream schools. The higher proportion of boys in special schools is well established, boys being more susceptible to birth injuries, being more vulnerable, having more learning difficulties, etc.

The deprivation link in special schools however is not repeated amongst minority ethnic pupils. It is possible that the reasons for minority ethnic groups living in deprived areas are different from those among the white population, and these not being ones which would result in higher rates in special schools. There might also be issues concerning awareness/access if there are language barriers.

Table 5.4: Total pupil numbers and sex of pupils by school type, 2003/4
Numbers, percentages

		Pupil numbers			Percentage of pupils in each school type
		15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland	15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
Primary School Pupils	All	68,555	331,973	400,528	17.1	82.9	100.0
	Females	33,705	162,386	196,091	49.2	48.9	49.0
	Males	34,850	169,587	204,437	50.8	51.1	51.0
Secondary School Pupils	All	51,330	263,270	314,600	16.3	83.7	100.0
	Females	25,945	130,630	156,575	50.5	49.6	49.8
	Males	25,385	132,640	158,025	49.5	50.4	50.2
Special School Pupils	All	2,394	4,592	6,986	34.3	65.7	100.0
	Females	746	1,550	2,296	31.2	33.8	32.9
	Males	1,648	3,042	4,690	68.8	66.2	67.1
All School Pupils	All	122,279	599,835	722,114	16.9	83.1	100.0
	Females	60,396	294,566	354,962	49.4	49.1	49.2
	Males	61,883	305,269	367,152	50.6	50.9	50.8

Source: Results of the Pupil Census, September 2003

Chart 5.5: Distribution of pupils from minority ethnic groups by school type, 2003/4
Percentages

Source: Results of the Pupil Census, September 2003
Note: Percentages are for pupils with a known data zone.

Table 5.6: Ethnicity of pupils by school type, 2003/4
Numbers, row percentages

		Pupil numbers			Percentage of pupils in each school type
		15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland: known data zones	15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland: known data zones
Primary School Pupils	Total	68,555	331,973	400,528	17.1	82.9	100.0
	White	63,406	307,427	370,833	17.1	82.9	100.0
	Minority ethnic groups	2,962	11,031	13,993	21.2	78.8	100.0
	Unknown ethnicity	2,187	13,515	15,702	13.9	86.1	100.0
Secondary School Pupils	Total	51,330	263,270	314,600	16.3	83.7	100.0
	White	47,128	242,828	289,956	16.3	83.7	100.0
	Minority ethnic groups	1,599	7,392	8,991	17.8	82.2	100.0
	Unknown ethnicity	2,603	13,050	15,653	16.6	83.4	100.0
Special School Pupils	Total	2,394	4,592	6,986	34.3	65.7	100.0
	White	2,268	4,059	6,327	35.8	64.2	100.0
	Minority ethnic groups	52	247	299	17.4	82.6	100.0
	Unknown ethnicity	74	286	360	20.6	79.4	100.0
All School Pupils	Total	122,279	599,835	722,114	16.9	83.1	100.0
	White	112,802	554,314	667,116	16.9	83.1	100.0
	Minority ethnic groups	4,613	18,670	23,283	19.8	80.2	100.0
	Unknown ethnicity	4,864	26,851	31,715	15.3	84.7	100.0

Source: Results of the Pupil Census, September 2003
Note: Ethnicity data was not collected for grant aided special schools, so these have not been included.

In 2003/4, 92 per cent of pupils in primary and secondary schools across Scotland were white. Primary schools, however, had a higher percentage of pupils from minority ethnic groups than secondary schools. When comparing the percentage of children from minority ethnic groups attending primary and secondary schools, (Chart 5.5), we can see that relatively more lived in the 15% most deprived areas. For example, 21 per cent of children from minority ethnic groups attending primary school live in the 15% most deprived areas, as opposed to 17 per cent of white children. Chapter two, which looked at demography, showed that many minority ethnic groups have young age distributions.

There are relatively high numbers of pupils with unknown ethnicity, some of which could be from minority ethnic groups. For this reason, care should be taken when interpreting the ethnicity data.

Record of Needs and Individualised Educational Programmes

It is recognised that some children may have different educational needs to others. Many children with additional needs attend special schools, while others remain in primary and secondary schools. Such children can be identified by having a Record of Needs ( RoN) or an Individualised Educational Programme ( IEP). An RoN is provided for a child who has "pronounced, specific or complex special educational needs which require continuing review", while IEPs are written plans setting targets that a child, with special educational needs, is expected to achieve (See Appendix 1 for full definitions).

Table 5.7: RoN/ IEP pupils by school type, 2003/4
Numbers, row percentages

		15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland: known data zones
Primary School Pupils	No. of primary pupils	68,555	331,973	400,528
	No. of RoN/ IEP pupils	2,557	10,820	13,377
	% of RoN/ IEP pupils	19.1	80.9	100.0
Secondary School Pupils	No. of secondary pupils	51,330	263,270	314,600
	No. of RoN/ IEP pupils	1,735	7,797	9,532
	% of RoN/ IEP pupils	18.2	81.8	100.0
Special School Pupils	No. of special school pupils	2,394	4,592	6,986
	No. of RoN/ IEP pupils	2,359	4,548	6,907
	% of RoN/ IEP pupils	34.2	65.8	100.0
All schools	No. of pupils	122,279	599,835	722,114
	No. of RoN/ IEP pupils	6,651	23,165	29,816
	% of RoN/ IEP pupils	22.3	77.7	100.0

Source: Results of the Pupil Census, September 2003
Note: All special school pupils should have an RoN or IEP, however, at time of pupil census not all pupils had been allocated one.

In 2003/4, there was a slightly higher proportion of pupils with RoN/ IEP in the 15% most deprived areas (5.5 per cent) than in the rest of Scotland (3.9 per cent). Between 18 and 19 per cent of RoN/ IEP pupils in primary and secondary schools, lived in the 15% most deprived areas. All children in special schools should have an RoN or IEP, however at the time of the Pupil Census not all children in Special Schools had been allocated an RoN or IEP. Just over a third of pupils in special schools live in the 15% most deprived areas.

Free school meal entitlement

Children living in families in receipt of key benefits are entitled to free school meals. The number of children entitled to (or registered for) free meals is used as a measure of deprivation in its own right to compare attainment and attendance rates. One of its key strengths is that it can be linked to individual pupils and hence maps exactly to schools, rather than relating to all households within the catchment area of a school. There are, however, issues relating to pupils not registering their entitlement which may introduce problems to such use. One would expect free school meals, therefore, to relate to the SIMD and, in particular, the income domain, which contains indicators on children in low income households.

Chart 5.8: Pupils registered for free school meals, 2003/4
Percentages

Source: Results of the Pupil Census, September 2003
Note: Percentages are for pupils with known data zones only.

Almost 17 per cent of all publicly funded school pupils from known areas across Scotland were registered for free school meals in 2003/4. Data zones can not be identified for all pupils from the Pupil Census. Proportions quoted are based on the number of pupils for which a data zone can be identified. We assume that this sample is representative of all pupils in publicly funded schools in Scotland.

Free school meal entitlement is strongly correlated with the SIMD, and the percentage of pupils in receipt of a free school meal declines sharply with increasing SIMD decile. In 2003/4, just under 50 per cent of pupils in all schools in the 10% most deprived areas were registered for free meals, compared with just under two per cent in the 10% least deprived areas (Chart 5.8). Primary and secondary schools show a very similar distribution.

Pupils in special schools may automatically be given free school meals and so it is difficult to draw strong conclusions about deprivation from the special school free meals data. For this reason, special school data has not been included.

Attendance and absence

A significant factor in the level of attainment of a pupil can be the extent to which they miss school. Absenteeism in secondary schools is therefore included as an indicator of deprivation in the SIMD 2004.

Table 5.9: Pupil Attendance and Absenteeism, 2003/4
Percentage of half-days possible attendance

		Within areas (column percentages)			Within attendance/absence type (row percentages)
		15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland	15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
Primary school pupils	In attendance	93.0	95.8	95.3	15.7	76.9	100.0
	Authorised and Unauthorised absence	6.9	4.2	4.7	23.5	67.6	100.0
	Temporary exclusion	0.05	0.01	0.02	38.3	50.9	100.0
Secondary school pupils	In attendance	84.8	91.4	90.2	15.2	82.2	100.0
	Authorised and Unauthorised absence	14.7	8.4	9.6	24.8	71.0	100.0
	Temporary exclusion	0.5	0.2	0.2	33.0	61.1	100.0
Special school pupils	In attendance	90.2	92.1	91.1	31.9	60.0	100.0
	Authorised and Unauthorised absence	9.3	7.6	8.5	34.8	52.9	100.0
	Temporary exclusion	0.6	0.3	0.4	46.8	41.1	100.0
All school pupils	In attendance	89.6	93.8	93.1	16.6	83.4	100.0
	Authorised and Unauthorised absence	10.1	6.1	6.7	26.0	74.0	100.0
	Temporary exclusion	0.2	0.1	0.1	36.5	63.5	100.0

Source: Attendance and Absence in Scottish Schools, 2003/4
Note: Row percentages may not sum to 100% due to unknown data zones for some pupils.

Attendance in school is measured in half-days, and Table 5.9 shows the proportion of these half days for which children were attending or absent, by school type, and also the proportion of each attendance/absence type in the 15% most deprived areas and the rest of Scotland. Data zones cannot be identified for all pupils from the attendance and absence data. Proportions quoted are based on the number of pupils for which a data zone can be identified. We assume that this sample is representative of all pupils in publicly funded schools in Scotland. Types of absence are defined fully in Appendix 1.

In 2003/4 all publicly funded schools in Scotland had an average attendance rate of 93.1 per cent, leaving 6.9 per cent of the time when pupils were absent. Most of this time is accounted for by authorised absence (including sickness, bereavement, authorised family holidays, religious observance and domestic circumstances among others) and unauthorised absence (including truancy and unauthorised family holidays). The remaining absences are as a result of temporary exclusion which accounted for 0.1 per cent of half-days.

Absence differs by school type, particularly in the most deprived areas where secondary schools have more absence than primary schools. In secondary schools in the 15% most deprived areas, 14.7 per cent of half-days were lost through a combination of authorised and unauthorised absence, compared with 6.9 per cent of half days lost in primary schools (Table 5.9).

Links between absence rates and deprivation have long been known, with absences (unauthorised and authorised) increasing with increasing deprivation (Chart 5.10a). In 2003/4, pupils from the 15% most deprived areas attended school on 89.6 per cent of possible half-days, compared with 93.8 in the rest of Scotland (Table 5.9). This difference was more marked in secondary schools (84.8 per cent in the 15% most deprived areas and 91.4 per cent attendance in the rest of Scotland).

Temporary exclusion accounts for a very small proportion of potential half-days of absence across the whole of Scotland, although it does decline with decreasing deprivation, particularly in secondary schools (Chart 5.10b). Of all the half days lost through temporary exclusions in all schools, 36.5 per cent were among pupils from the 15% most deprived areas, and this was higher in primary and special schools (Table 5.9).

Chart 5.10: Pupil absence: all school pupils, 2003/4
Percentages

Source: Attendance and Absence in Scottish Schools, 2003/04
Note: Percentages are for pupils with known data zones only.

5-14 attainment

Levels of 5-14 attainment (see Appendix 1 for an explanation of 5-14 attainment levels) have generally been improving across Scotland, in both the most and least deprived areas, in all subjects since 1998/9 (See Social Justice Indicators of Progress 2003). The annual monitoring system for 5-14 year olds has now changed in accordance with Scottish Executive Partnership Agreement commitments to provide more time for learning by simplifying and reducing assessment. Attainment is now being measured through broad surveys rather than national tests. Local authorities are expected to support individual pupils' learning by implementing personal learning planning.

2003/4 was the last year that 5-14 attainment level data was collected through the existing national survey. In that year, the proportion of pupils attaining or exceeding the expected 5-14 attainment levels in reading, writing and mathematics in primary schools was considerably lower among children from the 15% most deprived areas, compared with the whole of Scotland (Table 5.11). The gap in attainment between the 15% most deprived areas and the whole of Scotland increased with the level from P3 to P7. In terms of subjects, differences in attainment were greatest in writing: in 2003/4, 45.8 per cent of pupils from the 15% most deprived areas attained expected standards in writing at P7, compared with 60.6 per cent from the whole of Scotland.

The developments for assessment, testing and reporting policy for 3 to 14 year olds build an assessment system which puts the learner firmly at the centre of the assessment process. The means proposed to achieve evaluation of this is the new Scottish Survey of Achievement, which builds upon the previous survey - the Assessment of Achievement Programme ( AAP). The first SSA survey, on English Language and Core Skills, took place in May 2005 and will be reported on in December 2005.

Table 5.11: Percentage of pupils gaining expected levels of 5-14 attainment in publicly funded schools, 2003/4
Percentage

	Reading		Writing		Mathematics
	15% Most Deprived	Scotland Total	15% Most Deprived	Scotland Total	15% Most Deprived	Scotland Total
Level A or above by the end of P3	78.5	85.5	77.7	85.4	94.0	95.9
Level B or above by the end of P4	71.6	80.6	63.0	74.0	73.4	80.8
Level C or above by the end of P6	76.6	85.5	63.4	75.4	72.7	82.0
Level D or above by the end of P7	61.1	74.4	45.8	60.6	58.0	69.7

Source: School management information systems
Note: Most deprived 15% data excludes pupils living in Perth & Kinross, Angus (primary school pupils only) and East Lothian. As the majority of pupils in these local authorities live within the 85% least deprived data zones, the attainment data available for the least deprived 85% are not representative of all data zones and, therefore, have not been included here. Scotland totals do include these pupils.

Secondary school attainment

Levels of attainment and qualifications gained by young people at secondary school can affect their chances of moving on to further and higher education and, in the long term, their future employment and income.

Absenteeism is just one factor that affects educational attainment. Earlier in this chapter, absence was shown to be of greater significance among secondary pupils, and particularly among pupils from the 15% most deprived areas.

One measure of pupil performance is average SQA tariff scores. At secondary school, pupils can take a range of national qualifications depending on their ability. Such courses cover Standard Grade, Access, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2, Higher and Advanced Higher levels. These courses are assessed by the Scottish Qualifications Authority ( SQA) and attainment is then measured using a tariff score which allows average scores to be calculated across the range of courses taken by a pupil. The higher the tariff score the greater the attainment.

It is important to note that special schools are not included in the following analysis of SQA tariff scores and lack of qualifications data, although some mainstream secondary schools have integrated special units whose pupils are included.

The average tariff score attained in S4 is included as a measure of education deprivation in the SIMD 2004. This includes attainment in both Standard Grades and new National Qualifications. The average S4 tariff score varies by sex across the 15% most deprived areas and the rest of Scotland (Chart 5.12).

Chart 5.12: Average S4 tariff score by sex, 2002/3
Average scores

Source: Scottish Qualifications Authority

The average tariff score of S4 pupils across Scotland in 2002/3 was 168 (roughly equivalent to six standard grades at award 2). However, among pupils from the 15% most deprived areas, the average tariff score was considerably lower at 122 (roughly equivalent to six standard grades at award 3).

The difference in attainment between the 15% most deprived areas and the whole of Scotland is roughly equivalent to two Standard Grades at award 3. In addition, females are found to achieve higher results than males across Scotland, the most deprived 15% of areas and the rest of Scotland.

Across Scotland in 2002/3, around 12,000 pupils fell into the lowest performing 20% of all pupils. There were many more pupils from this low attaining group in the 15% most deprived areas. About a third of these pupils live within the 15% most deprived areas. However, there are more pupils in these areas in any case. The following chart 5.13 shows the distribution of the low attaining pupils across SIMD 2004 vigintiles (5% intervals), as a percentage of all pupils in that area.

Chart 5.13: Lowest performing pupils at SQA level, 2002/3
Percentages

Source: Scottish Qualifications Authority
Note: Data are shown for pupils with known data zones only.

If the lowest performing pupils were evenly distributed throughout Scotland, we would expect to see the percentages in Chart 5.13 to all be 20 per cent. However, we can see that there are twice the expected proportion of low performing pupils in the 5% most deprived areas of Scotland. Also, the proportion decreases as the deprivation levels decrease, to an extent where four per cent of pupils in the 5% least deprived areas are from the lowest performing group.

Lack of qualifications

The SIMD 2004 Education domain included an indicator on the percentage of working age adults with no qualifications. This analysis provides further information on people with no qualifications at different stages. It considers the proportions of S4 pupils who did not sit any exams, and the proportions of school leavers who have no qualifications. In all cases, the proportion of the population with no qualifications is higher among those from the 15% most deprived areas than from the rest of Scotland.

In the 2002/3 school year there were just over 61,000 pupils in S4, four per cent of which had no exam entries in that year (Table 5.14). This figure rises to eight per cent for pupils from the 15% most deprived areas. Male S4 pupils are also slightly less likely to sit exams. Across Scotland, four per cent of male pupils had no exam entries compared to three per cent of female pupils. There is a more distinct difference between male and female pupils from the 15% most deprived areas, with ten per cent of male pupils not sitting any exams compared with seven per cent of female pupils.

Table 5.14: S4 pupils with no exam entries, 2002/3
Numbers and percentages

		15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland	No data zone
Total Number of S4 pupils - 2002/03	Total	10,516	49,614	61,009	879
	Males	5,294	25,280	31,054	480
	Females	5,222	24,334	29,955	399
Number of S4 pupils with no exam entries - 2002/03	Total	865	1,250	2,183	68
	Males	521	714	1,273	38
	Females	344	536	910	30
Percentage of S4 pupils with no National Course entries - 2002/03	Total	8	3	4	8
	Males	10	3	4	8
	Females	7	2	3	8

Source: School management information systems/Scottish Qualifications Authority

In addition, five per cent of those pupils who left publicly funded secondary schools in Scotland in 2002/3 did so with no qualifications (Table 5.15). This percentage is higher among pupils from the 15% most deprived areas where 11 per cent left without any qualifications. In the rest of Scotland, three per cent of leavers had no qualifications. Again females, particularly in the 15% most deprived areas, are less likely than males to leave school with no qualifications.

Table 5.15: Leavers with no qualifications - publicly funded secondary schools, 2002/3
Percentage of all leavers

	15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland	No data zone
Total	11	3	5	17
Males	13	3	5	15
Females	9	3	4	18

Source: School management information systems/Scottish Qualifications Authority

Further and higher education

Further education is non school based education up to level 6 on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework, i.e. up to SQA level 3.

In 2003/4 there were 411,560 enrolments on further education level courses in Further Education Colleges and, of these, 95 per cent were funded by the Scottish Further Education Funding Council ( SFEFC). Of the SFEFC funded students enrolled for which a valid postcode was supplied, 18 per cent were from the 15% most deprived areas and the remaining 82 per cent were from the rest of Scotland. This means that compared with the resident population, relatively more enrolments were from the 15% most deprived areas (Table 5.16).

When considering deprivation, a 20% threshold is often used in further education funding. In 2003/4, 22 per cent of enrolments were from the 20% most deprived areas.

Table 5.16: Further Education level enrolments, 2003/4
Numbers, row percentages

	15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
Enrolments	66,250	308,690	374,935
% of enrolments	18	82	100

Source: Scottish Further Education Funding Council
Note: Data shown here are for students for which a postcode could be matched to a data zone (96% of total applications had a match).

Lack of successful application to Higher Education ( HE) is recognised as one of the key indicators of deprivation in the construction of the SIMD 2004. The SIMD 2004 considers the proportion of the 17 to 19 year old population who have not successfully applied to Higher Education. A low rate of successful applications to HE may be a factor of:

Low attainment
Barriers to access such as costs to the students
Lack of interest/information on the benefits of higher education.

Between 2000 and 2002, five per cent of successful applicants to higher education originated from the 15% most deprived areas (Table 5.17), despite these areas being home to 17 per cent of all 17 to 19 year olds (based on 2001 census populations). During the period, the percentage of successful applicants has increased by about half a percentage point.

Table 5.17: Successful applications to Higher Education from 17 to 19 year olds, 2000 to 2002
Numbers, row percentages

		15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	Scotland
2000	Acceptances	910	18,191	19,101
2000	% of acceptances	5	95	100
2001	Acceptances	968	18,399	19,367
2001	% of acceptances	5	95	100
2002	Acceptances	1,016	18,568	19,584
2002	% of acceptances	5	95	100

Source: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service

In 2003/4, 115,830 Scottish students received some kind of support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. The support received contains both non means tested elements (such as fees and part of the loan entitlement) and means tested elements (such as specific awards and part of the loan entitlement); therefore the distribution between more deprived and less deprived areas reflects the results about acceptances (shown above) and graduates (shown below). In fact, 5.9 per cent of those receiving any kind of public support were from the 10% most deprived areas, while 15.8 per cent were from the 10% least deprived areas.

Data from all UK institutions show that of the 53,015 higher education graduates that provided a Scottish postcode for their home address, 5.5 per cent came from the 10% most deprived areas, based on their address before study. In contrast, 14.9 per cent came from within the 10% least deprived areas. A slightly higher proportion of mature (aged 25+) graduates (six per cent) came from the 10% most deprived areas. (Chart 5.19).

Table 5.18: Scottish domiciled higher education graduates from UK institutions, 2002/3
Numbers, row percentages

		15% Most Deprived	Rest of Scotland	No match	Scotland
Graduates from higher education	Number	4,750	47,095	1,165	53,015
Graduates from higher education	Percentage	9.0	88.8	2.2	100.0
Graduates aged 25+ from higher education	Number	2,520	22,335	635	25,490
Graduates aged 25+ from higher education	Percentage	9.9	87.6	2.5	100.0

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency and the Scottish Further Education Funding Council

Chart 5.19: Graduates from higher education, 2002/3
Percentage

Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency and the Scottish Further Education Funding Council
Note: A data zone match could not be found for 2.2% of students.

Adult qualifications

Analysis of adult qualifications can be found in Chapter four on the Labour Market.

References

Pre-school education and childcare http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/16135/10936

Pre-school and childcare census 2004 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00346-00.asp

Education statistics http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/ED/IAC/00016412/ECSU_PubIndex.aspx

Free school meals in Scotland - statistical bulletin http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00347-00.asp

Further and higher education http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/17875/10431

Social Justice Indicators of Progress 2003http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/social/sjip03-00.asp

Universities and Colleges Admissions Service www.ucas.ac.uk

ScotXed www.scotxed.net

Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics www.sns.gov.uk

Scottish Executive Partnership Agreement http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/government/pfbs-00.asp

Contacts

Chapter Author
Tracey Stead
Office of the Chief Statistician
0131 244 0442
neighbourhood.statistics@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Contributors
Children, Young People & Social Care Analysis (Statistics)
0131 244 0313
children.statistics@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Schools - Pupil, Teacher & School Statistics
0131 244 1689
school.stats@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Schools - Educational Outcome Statistics
0131 244 0303
educ.outcomes.stats@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Lifelong Learning Statistics
0141 242 0274
fhestatistics@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

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