Published on:
16
June 2022
Latest national figures show that 91.8% of 2020/2021 school leavers in Clackmannanshire were in a positive destination nine months after the end of the school year, an increase from 90.1% in 2019/2020.
School leavers who are engaged in higher or further education, training, voluntary work or employment are classed as having a positive destination. The national figure is 93.2%.
The percentage of school leavers from the most deprived areas in Clackmannanshire in a positive follow-up destination also increased to 89.8% in 2020/202, compared to 86.9% in 2019/2020 (based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation – SIMD).
The figures come from Scotland’s Chief Statistician publication ‘Summary Statistics for Follow-up Leaver Destinations’. The publication uses the school leaver destination data supplied by Skills Development Scotland.
Compared to the previous school leaver cohort in Clackmannanshire, there was an increase in young people entering employment from 23.3% in 2019/2020 to 33.4% in 2020/2021, which mirrors the national picture, where the proportion of leavers entering employment has increased.
Figures in Clackmannanshire show an increase in the number of leavers entering Higher Education from 31.1% in 2019/2020 to 35.2% in 2020/2021. Over the same period, the proportion of leavers entering Further Education in Clackmannanshire decreased from 28.4% to 20.2%, reflecting the national picture, where the numbers decreased from 23.6% to 18.8%.
For 2020/2021 school leavers in Clackmannanshire, 91.8% of those who were in a positive initial destination (three months after the end of the school year) were also in a positive follow up destination (nine months after the school year).
Cllr Graham Lindsay, Spokesperson for Education, said: “I am pleased to see a continued improvement in positive destinations for our young people leaving Clackmannanshire schools. In particular, it’s good to see an improving trend for those young people living in our most deprived areas, helping them to access better opportunities for their future.
“We’re not complacent, however, and the hard work continues to provide all Clackmannanshire’s young people with the very best education and support to allow them to aim high and achieve all that they can.”
Follow-up destinations relate to outcomes approximately nine months after the end of the school year and the figures for the 2020/21 school leaver cohort relate to statuses recorded as at April 2022. It is likely that the coronavirus pandemic will have continued to affect the destination choices made by, and opportunities available to, some school leavers in 2020/21.