| Title | School leavers (from Scottish publicly funded schools) in positive and sustained destinations: Further Education ( FE), Higher Education ( HE), employment or training. |
Associated Targets | Increase the proportion of school leavers in positive and sustained destinations. |
Brief Description | This indicator measures the proportion of school leavers (from Scotland's publicly funded sector) who are in a positive destination approximately 9 months after leaving school. |
Strategic Objective(s) to Which Indicator Relates | This indicator informs progress in relation to the following Strategic Objectives: Wealthier and Fairer - Positive sustained destinations after leaving school increases the chances of longer term successful outcomes in terms of employment and earnings. Smarter - Sustained positive destinations leads to a more skilled workforce. This is particularly true when the destination is FE, HE, training or employment with an element of training. However it is important to recognise that young people have different starting points and that, for some, these destinations may not be realistic. Moving these individuals to an opportunity suitable to their needs is important. Safer and Stronger - Sustained positive destinations for more young people leads to increasing opportunities now and in the future, and widening networks which in turn lead to increased positive engagement in the community. |
More Detailed Definitions | |
Definitions of Keywords | The proportion of positive destinations is defined as those school leavers undertaking FE or HE courses or in employment or training in the March / April after leaving school, divided by the population of school leavers. People who are volunteering will also be included in the positive destination category. The 'population' is any young person leaving school after the date of the Pupil Census (typically mid September) and before the date of the next Pupil Census - a year later. Christmas leavers (who account for around 10 % of the leaver group), will be counted in the March / April collection 15 months after leaving. This indicator is based on the school leavers from publicly funded secondary schools. This excludes schools in the independent sector and all special schools. However grant aided schools are included. |
Evidence Source | The source of the information is the follow up survey to the current National Statistics 'School Leavers Destination Survey' which takes place in October roughly 3 months after the end of the relevant school year. The follow up will be carried out in the March/April the year after an individual leaves school which is roughly 9 months after the end of the relevant school year. This is a direct measure of the indicator. The data is collected by Skills Development Scotland and published by the Scottish Government. The first publication of this data was in June 2008 and related to School leavers in the 2006/07 school year. Skills Development Scotland carried out a pilot of this survey in 2007 covering school leavers in 2005/06. The indicator based on the follow up survey provides a measure of more sustained outcomes after leaving school. Using the 9 month follow up rather than the original October survey allows for the destinations of school leavers to settle. However, a 9 month follow-up is unlikely itself to capture sustained positive destinations. Therefore our future plan is to develop the measure in order to track destinations longer term i.e. beyond 9 months after leaving school. It is also important to consider the progression of individuals relative to their starting point as well as the destinations. However this data does not currently exist. |
Baseline and Past Trends | The first official publication of the follow up survey to School Leavers destinations was in June 2008. This information showed that approximately 87% of school leavers in 2006/07 were in positive destinations in the March/April of 2008. This percentage has now been taken as the baseline from which any increase in the percentage of leavers entering positive and sustained destinations will be measured. Data on initial destinations - measured in October - after leaving school have been available since the early 1990s. These data show that the proportion of leavers entering positive destinations tends to fluctuate around the 83 to 84 percent point. The results were very stable throughout the 1990's, before they fell from 83% in 2000/01 to 80% in 2002/03. The proportion entering positive destinations then rose to 85% in 2005/06, which was slightly above the historical average. |
Methodology for Data Source | Data are based on a simple count of young people and their reporting of their current destination. |
Data Ownership and Quality Assurance | The follow up survey which is used to measure the indicator does not currently have National Statistics status. Work will be taken forward in the near future to obtain approval for this status. The methodology used to collect the data to measure the indicator is based on that used in the current National Statistics School Leavers Destinations survey. |
Publication of Data | Data is published on the Scottish Government website on an annual basis. These data are published at Scotland level; in future it is likely that local authority level data will also be published. |
Methodology for Recent Change Arrow on Scotland | An increase or decrease of less than 1% in those entering a positive destination is classed as maintained. An increase of 1% or more is classed as a positive change while a decrease of 1% of more is classed as a negative change. |
Future issues or reviews | No anticipated issues in the shorter term. As part of a process of continuous improvement to these data, the possibility of using specialised data linking software is being explored to further strengthen the basis upon which these data are published. |