Attainment, school leaver destinations and healthy living: education statistics summary

Chapter 4: Attainment and destinations

• As the attainment of leavers improves, the nature of the destination changes, with the likelihood of them going on to a positive destination increasing.
• 55.8 per cent of leavers who achieved no passes at SCQF Level 3 or better entered a positive destination.
• 98.7 per cent of leavers who achieved 1+ at SCQF Level 7 entered a positive destination.

Linking attainment and subsequent leaver destinations shows the extent to which one influences the other. Table 8 shows that 98.7 per cent of leavers who achieved one or more passes at SCQF Level 7 entered a positive destination on leaving school. In comparison, nearly 3 out of 5 of the 2.0 per cent of school leavers who achieved no passes at SCQF Level 3 or better, entered a positive destination (Table 8).

Table 8. Percentage of school leavers by highest SCQF level at which one or more passes were achieved and follow-up destination category, 2015/161

1. Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding
* percentages based on less than 5 have been suppressed for disclosure and quality reasons.

The main destinations for the 2.0 per cent of school leavers with no passes at SCQF Level 3 or better are unemployed seeking (22.9 per cent) and Further Education (21.1 per cent) ( Table 8). The pattern of destinations for those with one or more passes at SCQF Level 3 as their highest qualification is similar to this. For school leavers who have one or more passes at SCQF Level 5 as their highest qualification, the main destinations are Further Education (42.4 per cent) and employment (41.4 per cent), while the majority of school leavers with one or more at SCQF Level 6 or 7 enter Higher Education. This shows that as the attainment of leavers improves, the nature of the destination changes, with the likelihood of school leavers going on to a positive destination increasing.