Summary Statistics for Follow-up leaver Destinations, No. 2: 2020 Edition

Chapter 2: School Leaver Destinations

• 92.9 per cent of 2018/19 school leavers were in a positive follow-up destination (93.3 per cent for 2017/18).
• 38.4 per cent of school leavers were in Higher Education (the highest proportion of all categories).

2.1 Destinations

Table 1 shows that 92.9 per cent of all 2018/19 school leavers were in a positive follow-up destination. This was lower than for 2017/18 (93.3 per cent).

Table 1 also shows that, 38.4 per cent of the 2018/19 leavers were in Higher Education. This was lower than for 2017/18 (39.0 per cent). The percentage of school leavers in Further Education has increased from 22.6 per cent in 2017/18 to 23.3 per cent in 2018/19.

The percentage of school leavers in Employment has decreased slightly from 28.3 per cent for 2017/18 leavers to 28.0 per cent in 2018/19.

The percentage of school leavers who were Unemployed has increased slightly from 5.6 per cent for 2017/18 to 5.8 per cent for 2018/19 leavers. The percentage of school leavers whose follow-up destination was Unknown has slightly increased from 1.1 per cent for 2017/18 to 1.3 per cent for 2018/19 leavers.

Table 1: Percentage of school leavers by follow-up destination category, 2013/14 to 2018/19

Destination	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19
Higher Education	38.2	36.8	37.3	38.3	39.0	38.4
Further Education	24.3	23.4	22.4	23.0	22.6	23.3
Training	2.3	2.5	1.5	1.5	1.6	2.3
Employment	25.5	27.8	28.7	28.3	28.3	28.0
Voluntary Work	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.6	0.5
Activity Agreement1	0.7	0.7	0.9	1.0	0.9	n/a
Personal Skills Development2	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.3	0.4
Positive Destinations	91.7	92.2	91.6	93.1	93.3	92.9
Unemployed Seeking	6.5	5.6	5.7	4.3	3.8	3.5
Unemployed Not Seeking	1.4	1.6	1.8	1.8	1.8	2.3
Unknown	0.3	0.6	0.9	0.7	1.1	1.3
Other Destinations	8.3	7.8	8.4	6.9	6.7	7.1
Number of Leavers	51,293	52,337	52,113	51,172	49,650	49,655

1. For 2018/19, support previously recorded as Activity Agreements is recorded in the Training category. For more information see section 4.2.
2. All school leavers undertaking Personal Skills Development (PSD) are now recorded in a new standalone PSD category. For more information, see section 4.1.

2.2 Destinations by Stage

The follow-up destinations of 2018/19 school leavers by stage of leaving (Chart 1) show:

• the majority of S6 leavers were in Higher Education (57.5 per cent);
• the most common follow-up destination for S5 leavers was Employment (39.4 per cent) followed by Further Education (33.2 per cent);
• the most common destination for S4 leavers was Further Education (42.8 per cent).

1. Other positive includes Personal Skills Development, Activity Agreements, Training and Voluntary Work.
2. Other destinations include Unemployed Seeking, Unemployed Not Seeking and Unknown.
3. A small percentage of school leavers left in other stages not shown in this graph. For more information, see the supplementary tables. A list of these tables is available at background note 5.7.

2.3 Destinations by Deprivation

Chart 2 shows that the percentage of school leavers in a positive follow-up destination has decreased slightly for leavers from both the most deprived and least deprived areas in 2018/19, based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). The deprivation gap has reduced from 8.6 percentage points in 2017/18 to 8.4 percentage points in 2018/19. The deprivation gap has narrowed because the proportion in a positive follow-up destination decreased by more for pupils from the least deprived areas.

Table 2 provides a breakdown of follow-up school leaver destinations by SIMD. Amongst other things, it shows that pupils from the most deprived areas continue to be less likely to be in Higher Education than those from the least deprived areas.

In 2018/19, the most common destination for leavers from the most deprived areas was Further Education at 31.5 per cent.

In 2018/19, 9.9 per cent of leavers from the most deprived areas were Unemployed, compared to 2.6 per cent of leavers from the least deprived areas.

A time series of destinations by SIMD is available in the supplementary tables. A list of these tables is available at background note 5.7.

pp = percentage point difference between most and least deprived SIMD quintile
1. Based on SIMD 2009 for 2009/10 and 2010/11, SIMD 2012 for 2011/12 to 2015/16 and SIMD 2016 for 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19. More information on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2016 can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-index-multiple-deprivation-2016/.

Table 2: Percentage of school leavers by follow-up destination category by SIMD ¹, 2018/19

Follow-up Destination	0-20% (Most Deprived)	20-40%	40-60%	60-80%	80-100% (Least Deprived)	Percentage point gap2	Total
Higher Education	24.5	29.1	36.9	45.1	57.2	32.8	38.4
Further Education	31.5	28.1	23.2	18.8	14.5	-16.9	23.3
Training3	4.3	2.6	2.0	1.5	0.9	-3.4	2.3
Employment	27.0	29.9	30.7	29.3	23.3	-3.6	28.0
Voluntary Work	0.4	0.3	0.6	0.5	0.5	0.1	0.5
Personal Skills Development4	0.7	0.4	0.3	0.2	0.2	-0.5	0.4
Positive Destinations	88.3	90.5	93.7	95.5	96.7	8.4	92.9
Unemployed seeking	6.2	4.5	3.0	2.1	1.5	-4.7	3.5
Unemployed Not Seeking	3.8	3.0	2.3	1.5	1.1	-2.7	2.3
Unknown	1.8	2.0	1.0	1.0	0.7	-1.1	1.3
Other Destinations	11.7	9.5	6.3	4.5	3.3	-8.4	7.1
Number of Leavers	10,601	9,737	9,566	9,910	9,841		49,655

1. Based on SIMD 2016. More information on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-index-multiple-deprivation-2016/.
2. The percentage point gap measures the difference between the most and least deprived pupils.
3. For 2018/19, support previously recorded as Activity Agreements is recorded in the Training category. For more information see section 4.2.
4. The way in which Personal Skills Development activity is categorised in these statistics has changed. For more information see section 4.1.

2.4 Destinations by Pupil Characteristics

Table 3 shows the percentage of school leavers in a positive follow-up destination by various characteristics.

The percentage of 2018/19 school leavers in positive follow-up destinations has decreased for most groups, compared to 2017/18.

School leavers in 2018/19 with an additional support need (ASN) were less likely to go on to a positive follow-up destination, compared to leavers without a recorded ASN (87.9 per cent compared to 95.1 per cent).

Pupils of an Asian ethnic background tend to be more likely to go on to a positive follow-up destination than those from other ethnic backgrounds. Rates for most ethnic groups in a positive destination for 2018/19 have decreased compared to 2017/18.

Females continue to be more likely to be in a positive destinations than males; 93.7 per cent of females and 92.1 per cent of males were in a positive destination.

Other Urban areas had the lowest proportion of leavers in positive destinations (92.1 per cent), compared to Remote Rural areas which had the highest (94.6 per cent).

More information on destinations by pupil characteristics is available in the supplementary tables. A list of these tables is available at background note 5.7.

Table 3: Percentage of school leavers in a positive follow-up destination, by pupil characteristic, 2013/14 to 2018/19

	Percentage
Pupil Characteristic	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18	2018/19
Sex
Male	90.6	91.4	90.9	92.4	92.4	92.1
Female	92.8	92.9	92.3	94.0	94.3	93.7
Ethnicity1
White - Scottish	91.6	92.1	91.5	93.0	93.2	92.7
White - non-Scottish	92.9	92.2	92.8	93.9	94.2	93.5
Mixed or multiple ethnic groups	93.6	93.0	93.0	92.7	93.6	92.8
Asian - Indian	*	96.3	96.9	*	97.2	94.4
Asian - Pakistani	93.2	95.2	92.5	95.7	93.5	94.8
Asian - Chinese	*	97.1	95.9	*	96.8	*
Asian - Other	97.0	96.2	95.1	95.3	93.9	*
African/Black/Caribbean2	96.0	94.4	92.3	93.9	96.0	94.1
All other categories3	92.6	91.2	88.4	94.5	92.0	93.6
Not Disclosed/Not known	89.1	90.6	88.8	90.7	89.8	88.9
Urban/Rural
Large Urban Areas	90.7	91.6	90.2	92.4	92.4	92.4
Other Urban Areas	91.5	91.7	91.6	92.4	92.9	92.1
Accessible Small Towns	93.2	93.5	93.6	93.3	93.7	93.7
Remote Small Towns	93.2	93.5	93.3	94.6	94.8	93.6
Accessible Rural	92.5	92.7	92.4	95.2	95.1	94.5
Remote Rural	95.5	95.8	93.2	96.4	95.9	94.6
Additional Support Needs4
ASN	84.7	86.2	85.2	87.7	88.4	87.9
No ASN	93.3	93.7	93.5	95.0	95.3	95.1
All Leavers	91.7	92.2	91.6	93.1	93.3	92.9

1. Some categories have been grouped together due to small numbers. Some categories contain between 100-200 leavers.
2. For 2013/14 to 2018/19 the 'African/ Black/ Caribbean' category includes 'African', 'African - Other', and the 'Caribbean or Black' categories.
3. For 2013/14 to 2018/19, 'All other categories' includes 'Other - other' and 'Other - Arab'.
4. Pupils who have a CSP, IEP, Child's Plan are assessed or declared disabled or have another need.