No One Left Behind and Fair Start Scotland

This section considers No One Left Behind and FSS together to give an indication of total demand for Scottish Government funded employability support over time. Both are distinct approaches to employability support, varying over time in support offered and groups targeted. It is also possible that people have accessed both No One Left Behind and FSS. It is not recommended to make direct comparisons between No One Left Behind and FSS.

There have been 132,443 starts on either No One Left Behind or FSS between April 2018 and March 2024. In the most recent quarter, January – March 2024, there were 9,849 starts across No One Left Behind and FSS, a 25% increase on the previous quarter and an 11% increase on the same quarter in the previous year.

Please note that FSS closed to new referrals on the 31st March 2024 and this latest quarter, January – March 2024, will be the last to show additional starts on the FSS service.

Key differences between these programmes can be found in the supplementary Background and Methodology Report. These are likely to impact the demographics and outcomes of participants.

Figure 1: Starts on employability services in Scotland increased this quarter 

Starts on No One Left Behind and Fair Start Scotland, by Quarter, Apr 2018 to Mar 2024