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7 December 2005
A Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication
ISSN 1479-7569
ISBN 0 7559 2854 7 (Web only publication)
This document is also available in pdf format (88k)
The tables are available in Excel Spreadsheet format (44k)

This Statistics Publication Notice presents national and education authority level information on the destinations of young people leaving Scottish schools (publicly funded, independent and grant-aided) and updates the publication "Destinations of Leavers from Scottish Schools: 2003/04".

The main findings for leaver destinations are: -

Publicly Funded Schools

• The proportion of young people entering full-time further or higher education has risen slightly from 50 per cent in 2003/04 to 52 per cent in 2004/05. This can be attributed to a 2 percentage point increase in those going on to full-time higher education.
• The proportion of leavers entering employment has also increased by 2 percentage points to 27 per cent, while the proportion who are unemployed and seeking employment or training has fallen from 13 per cent to 10 per cent.
• The proportion of leavers entering training outwith employment remains the same as 2003/04 at 5 per cent and the percentage in the 'destination unknown' category has decreased by 1 per cent.
• A higher proportion of females than males entered higher or further education (59 per cent and 45 per cent respectively) while a higher proportion of males than females entered employment (31 per cent and 22 per cent respectively).
• Of the leavers who were unemployed, 12 per cent of males were seeking employment as opposed to 8 per cent of females, however there was no difference in the proportion of males and females who were unemployed and not seeking employment (both at 3 per cent).

Independent Schools

• There has been a marked reduction in the percentage of leavers with 'destination unknown' this year, falling from 10 per cent in 2003/04 to 4 per cent in 2004/05. Conversely, the percentage of pupils entering full time higher education has risen from 78 per cent in 2003/04 to 85 per cent in 2004/05, a figure which is more in line with previous years.

TABLES
Table 1 Percentage of school leavers from publicly funded schools in Scotland by destination category: 1992/93 to 2004/05
Table 2 Percentage of school leavers from publicly funded schools in Scotland by destination category and gender: 2002/03 to 2004/05
Table 3 Percentage of school leavers from independent schools in Scotland by destination category: 1995/96 to 2004/05
Table 4 Percentage of school leavers from independent schools in Scotland by destination category and gender: 2002/03 to 2004/05
Table 5 Young people in Training (16-24 year olds with employed or trainee status): 1998 to 2005
Table 6 Percentage of school leavers from publicly funded schools in Scottish Education Authorities by destination category: 2002/03 to 2004/05

BACKGROUND NOTES

1. National Statistics Publication

This is a National Statistics Publication. It has been produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice and Release Practice Protocol. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/about_ns/cop/default.asp

These statistics undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.

2. Sources

Information on publicly funded schools is provided to the Scottish Executive by Careers Scotland who are part of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise. Data for the Scottish Enterprise area was collected in a different way this year. In previous years the survey was completed entirely by the staff from Careers Scotland. For 2004/05 Careers Scotland outsourced part of the work to an external contractor. Every effort was made to ensure consistency with previous years.

Information from independent schools is collected directly from the schools. This information has been collected at pupil level for the second year. Results for those in the 'unknown category' are in line with expectations.

The data relate to the latest known destination of leavers in October 2005. For example, a school leaver who left in June 2005 and travelled for several months but who is known to have taken up employment prior to October will be counted under 'employment'.

There are slight variations in previously published percentages for 2003/04. This is due to improved methods of cleaning the data.

Percentages may not always total 100 percent due to rounding.

3. School Leavers

A school leaver is classed as a young person of school leaving age who left school during or at the end of the school year, where the school year is taken to run from 1 August to 31 July.

In practice, many young people do not decide whether or not to leave school until after they have received the results of external examinations, have tried to get a job or achieve entry to further or higher education or training. For many pupils, therefore, it is only possible to identify later whether they have effectively left school by 31 July. There may also be slight differences in the way Careers Scotland count leavers who return to school for a short period after the summer break. Thus full comparability between education authorities cannot be assured.

It should be noted that the Statistics Publication Notice does not contain information on the destinations of leavers from special schools. The number of leavers from these schools is small and fluctuates from year to year.

4. Leaver Destination

The following categories for leaver destination are included in the Statistics Publication Notice. These are also described in the Regulations in the SOED circular 10/93 on the Information for Parents in Scotland.

Full-time Higher Education: includes leavers following HND (Higher National Diploma) or HNC (Higher National Certificate) courses, degree courses, courses for the education and training of teachers and higher level courses for professional qualifications. It also includes programmes at a level higher than the standard of the New National Qualifications (Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2, the new Higher) which were introduced in 1999/00, Advanced Higher, introduced in 2001, Scottish Certificate of Sixth Year Studies, and the National Certificate of Education of England, Wales or Northern Ireland at Advanced Level. Leavers with a deferred, unconditional place in higher education have also been included in this category.

Full-time Further Education: includes leavers undertaking full-time education which is not higher education and who are no longer on a school roll.

Training: includes leavers who are on a training course and in receipt of an allowance or grant, such as Skillseekers, but who are not employed. It should be noted that a large proportion of leavers entering employment may also be participants in training such as Modern Apprenticeships.

Employment: includes those who are employed for a minimum of 21 hours per week and who are in receipt of payment from their employers. It includes young people undertaking training in employment through Skillseekers and Modern Apprenticeships. Where a leaver has more than one job, the leaver will be included in the 'employment' category if they work more than 21 hours per week in total.

Unemployed and seeking employment or training: - includes those who are registered with Careers Scotland and are known by them to be seeking employment or training. This is based on regular contact between Careers Scotland and the client. This does not refer to the definition of 'unemployed' used by the Benefits Agency to calculate published unemployment rates.

Unemployed and not seeking employment or training: - includes all those individuals who are not seeking employment or training for a range of reasons. The reasons may involve sickness, caring for children or the elderly, involvement in full time unpaid voluntary work or taking time out. It may also include school leavers who are employed and/or in education part time for less than 21 hours per week and may include leavers with more than one part time placement.

NOTE: the above two categories are comparable to the single 'other known destination' category from publications prior to 2002/03.

Unknown: includes all leavers whose destination is not known either to Careers Scotland or to the school attended.

5. Interpretation of figures for individual Education Authorities

Many factors affect the destinations of leavers. Examples include the following points which should be noted when comparing figures for individual Education Authorities.

• Increasing numbers of school leavers are taking a 'year out' before continuing their education or entering employment. Apart from pupils with a deferred unconditional place for Higher Education, pupils taking a 'year out' are included in the 'unemployed and not seeking employment or training' category.
• The destination of leavers from individual Education Authorities may depend partly on location. For example, in many rural and island areas, young people have to travel long distances or live away from home in order to take up courses in higher or further education.
• Economic factors may affect the availability of employment in the local area. A major construction project or the opening of an industrial enterprise may present many new opportunities. Equally, lack of local employment may encourage leavers towards further education or training.
• In certain areas, or particular years, the pattern of school leaver destinations may be affected by the opportunities available through Skillseekers and Modern Apprenticeships, partnerships between education and business or special arrangements for entry to higher education.
• There may be a strong local tradition for pupils either to stay on at school or to leave school as early as possible, affecting the numbers who stay on long enough to gain the necessary entrance qualifications for higher education.
• Fluctuations in the figures from year to year are likely. For example, differences in the proportion of leavers proceeding to higher education may derive from the ability of pupils in a particular year group. Similarly, there may be short-term opportunities for employment in some localities. In Education Authorities with only a few leavers, a small change in the number of leavers in each destination category can make a big difference in percentage terms from year to year.

6. Symbols

• Percentages based on the results of more than 0 but fewer than 5 leavers have been replaced by asterisks (**) because they could be misleading or lead to the identification of individuals or whether it would have been possible to calculate the figures in the other categories based on the percentages and totals.

7. Enquiries

Public enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this Statistics Publication Notice should be addressed to:

Emma Milburn

+44 (0)131 244 0303
educ.outcomes.stats@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Media enquiries about the information in this Statistics Publication Notice should be addressed to Claire McKee on 0131 244 2852 or Stewart Lewis on 0131 244 2682.

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