Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations, No. 7: 2025 edition

Section 2. The school leaver cohort

The statistics in Section 2 refer to all school leavers from mainstream schools, including S3, S4, S5, S6 and ‘other’ stages. These are also the leavers in scope in the statistics in Section 3 (destinations), Section 4 (attainment in National Qualifications) and Section 6 (additional qualifications). Section 5 (attainment in All SCQF Qualifications) is based on leavers from S4-S6 only.

Statistics on destinations and attainment in National Qualifications that also include leavers from Scotland’s publicly funded special schools are available in Supplementary Tables L3.1, N3.1, N3.2, Z2.1a and Z2.1b.

Section 2.1 The size and composition of the school leaver cohort

The 2023-24 school leaver cohort was 55,988 pupils. It is the largest leaver cohort since 2009-10, when the current time series started. It has increased by 1,245 pupils from 2022-23 (when it was 54,743).

Compared to 2022-23 the absolute number of leavers from all stages has increased in 2023-24. The biggest increase was in S6 leavers which rose from 31,245 in 2022-23 to 31,956 in 2023-24, an increase of 711 pupils. S5 leaver numbers increased by 337 pupils (from 15,584 in 2022-23 to 15,921 in 2023-24) and S4 leaver numbers increased by 194 (from 7,890 in 2022-23 to 8,084 in 2023-24). 

The school leaver cohort fluctuates each year. It is affected by both the pupil rolls (e.g. S4, S5 and S6) each year, and also the decisions then made by pupils on whether to leave school that year, or to continue on to the next school year. Almost all S6 pupils in any academic year will leave school during or at the end of that year.

Chart 1a: The number of leavers from each stage increased over the latest year

Number of leavers by stage of leaving, 2018-19 to 2023-24

In 2023-24 the percentage of all leavers from each stage was similar to 2022-23. A little under three-fifths (57.1 per cent) of 2023-24 school leavers left in S6, the same percentage as in 2022-23. Over a quarter (28.4 per cent) of 2023-24 school leavers left in S5 (a slight decrease from 28.5 per cent in 2023-24) and 14.4 per cent left in S4 (the same percentage as in 2022-23). Less than 0.1 per cent of 2023-24 school leavers left in S3 or another stage (similar to 2022-23).

The proportion of school leavers from S6 in 2023-24 is at its lowest level since 2009-10 (equal with last year, 2022-23). The proportion leaving in S5 is at the second highest level on record since 2009-10 (only just smaller than the highest level in 2022-23) and the proportion leaving in S4 is at its highest level since 2010-11 (equal with last year, 2022-23). A full time series for 2009-10 to 2023-24 can be found in Supplementary Tables C1.1a and C1.1b.

Chart 1b: The proportion of S4 and S5 leavers has increased over time while the proportion of S6 leavers has decreased

Percentage of leavers by stage of leaving, 2018-19 to 2023-24

The size of the S4 and S5 cohort has grown over time (by 14 per cent and 12 per cent respectively since 2018-19) whilst the S6 cohort has remained relatively stable (4 per cent increase since 2018-19). This partially explains the increase in S4 and S5 leaver numbers over this period.

Pupils who turn 16 between October and February are not able to leave school until the end of the Autumn term in S5. Those who do are often referred to as ‘winter leavers’. In 2023-24, the proportion of S5 leavers who left before the end of the school year - most of whom were winter leavers - was 40.0 per cent. This figure is consistent with those seen in recent years and is a decrease compared to 2009-10 when the figure was 46.8 per cent.