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Publication - Statistics

Summary statistics for attainment and initial leaver destinations, no. 6: 2024 edition

Published
27 February 2024
From
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Directorate
Learning Directorate
Topic
Education, Work and skills
ISBN
9781835219621

This statistical publication provides information on the educational attainment and initial destinations of 2022-23 school leavers from publicly funded schools in Scotland.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

Summary statistics for attainment and initial leaver destinations

School leaver cohort

The majority of 2022-23 school leavers (57.1%) left from S6. The proportion of leavers from S5 was 28.5%, and 14.4% left from S4.
The total number of leavers in 2022-23 was 54,743

57.1% of school leavers left in S6, down 2.7pp since 2021-22.

28.5% of school leavers left in S5, up 0.8pp since 2021-22.

14.4% of school leavers left in S4, up 2.0pp since 2021-22.

Note: Less than 0.1% left in S3 or another stage in 2022-23.

School leaver initial destinations

In 2022-23, 95.9% of school leavers were in positive initial destinations , and 4.1% were in other destinations. The proportion of leavers in a positive destination is up 0.1pp from 95.7% in 2021-22.
95.9% of 2022-23 school leavers were in positive initial destinations and 4.1% were in other destinations
The gap between leavers from the most deprived and least deprived areas in a positive initial destination was 3.7pp 2022-23. This has narrowed from 4.4pp in 2021-22.
A line chart depicting percentage of leavers from the least and most deprived areas of Scotland who were in positive destinations and the gap between them. The gap in 2018-19 was 5.4 percentage points and in 2022-23 it was 3.7 percentage points.

School leaver attainment, National Qualifications measure

These statistics describe attainment in the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) National Qualifications only. These are the National Courses (such as National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher), plus Skills for Work courses.

All qualifications at a given SCQF level are associated with the same number of notional learning hours.

These statistics provide three of the key measures used by the Scottish Government in its National Improvement Framework to measure progress over time in closing the poverty related attainment gap.

  • 96.0 per cent left with one pass or more at SCQF Level 4 or better in 2022-23.
  • 84.8 per cent left with one pass or more at SCQF Level 5 or better in 2022-23.
  • 57.9 per cent left with one pass or more at SCQF Level 6 or better in 2022-23.
  • 2.2 per cent of leavers attained no passes at SCQF level 3 or better in 2022-23.

The attainment gap between leavers from the most deprived and least deprived areas, under the National Qualifications measure, 2018-19 to 2022-23:

A line chart depicting the percentage of leavers from the most and least deprived areas of Scotland that achieved one pass or more at SCQF level 4 or better under the National Qualifications measure. In 2018-19 the gap was 6.7 percentage points and in 2022-23 the gap was 5.9 percentage points.
A line chart depicting the percentage of leavers from the most and least deprived areas of Scotland that achieved one pass or more at SCQF level 5 or better under the National Qualifications measure. In 2018-19 the gap was 20.2 percentage points and in 2022-23 the gap was also 20.2 percentage points.
A line chart depicting the percentage of leavers from the most and least deprived areas of Scotland that achieved one pass or more at SCQF level 6 or better under the National Qualifications measure. In 2018-19 the gap was 35.8 percentage points and in 2022-23 the gap was 36.9 percentage points.

The gap between the most deprived and least deprived areas in 2022-23 for leavers attaining 1 pass or more under the National Qualifications measure at:

SCQF Level 4 or better is 5.9 pp

SCQF Level 5 or better is 20.2 pp

SCQF Level 6 or better is 36.9 pp

School leaver attainment, All SCQF measure

These statistics describe attainment in any qualification or learning programme on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF). This includes the SQA National Qualifications, other SQA qualifications and qualifications from other providers. The qualifications included will change over time, reflecting the changing types of qualifications pupils are undertaking.

They include all qualifications at a given SCQF level, which can be of varying lengths of study, from 10 notional learning hours to 240 (or more) notional learning hours.

These statistics are used to measure wider school leaver attainment across all qualifications on the SCQF.

  • 96.5 per cent left with one pass or more at SCQF Level 4 or better in 2022-23.
  • 87.9 per cent left with one pass or more at SCQF Level 5 or better in 2022-23.
  • 65.6 per cent left with one pass or more at SCQF Level 6 or better in 2022-23.
  • 2.0 per cent of leavers attained no passes at SCQF level 3 or better in 2022-23.

The attainment gap between leavers from the most deprived and least deprived areas, under the All SCQF measure, 2018-19 to 2022-23:

A line chart depicting the percentage of leavers from the most and least deprived areas of Scotland that achieved one pass or more at SCQF level 4 or better, under the all SCQF measure. In 2018-19 the gap was 5.9 percentage points and in 2022-23 the gap was 5.1 percentage points.
A line chart depicting the percentage of leavers from the most and least deprived areas of Scotland that achieved one pass or more at SCQF level 5 or better, under the all SCQF measure. In 2018-19 the gap was 17.2 percentage points and in 2022-23 the gap was 16.6 percentage points.
A line chart depicting the percentage of leavers from the most and least deprived areas of Scotland that achieved one pass or more at SCQF level 6 or better, under the all SCQF measure. In 2018-19 the gap was 32.5 percentage points and in 2022-23 the gap was 31.5 percentage points.

The gap between the most deprived and least deprived areas in 2022-23 for leavers attaining 1 pass or more under the All SCQF measure at:

SCQF Level 4 or better is 5.1 pp

SCQF Level 5 or better is 16.6 pp

SCQF Level 6 or better is 31.5 pp

Notes:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic affects these statistics. See section 1.6.
  • pp = percentage point. Percentage point gaps are affected by rounding.

Contact

Email: school.stats@gov.scot

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