Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2024/25

The attendance rate across primary, secondary and special schools for pupils who were looked after was 83.8% for 2024/25, compared to 83.7% in 2023/24. The attendance rate for all pupils increased over the same period from 90.3% to 91.0%.
Pupils who were looked after at home with parents during 2024/25 had the lowest attendance rates across all accommodation types for looked after pupils (69.8%), with those looked after in foster care placements provided by the local authority and purchased by the local authority having the highest attendance rates (94.0% and 94.9% respectively).

Exclusion rates for pupils looked after within the year have decreased in 2024/25, from 97 exclusion per 1,000 pupils in 2022/23 to 77 exclusions per 1,000 pupils in 2024/25.
Children in local authority homes, in voluntary homes and at home with parents had a higher rate of exclusion than those looked after in foster care, with friends or relatives, in other community accommodation, or residential placements.
Pupils who were looked after within the year with 2 or 3 or more placements had a higher rate of exclusion than those with one placement.

Achievement levels across all subjects were lower for pupils looked after during the year compared to all pupils at all stages.
The gap between looked after pupils and all pupils has increased in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24 for all subjects at P1 and S3 stages. The gap decreased in the latest year for all subjects for P4 with the exception of reading, and increased for all subjects for P7 with the exception of writing.

The proportion of looked after leavers who left school in S4 or earlier has declined substantially since 2009/10, from 62.8% in 2009/10 to 31.8% in 2024/25. This is a decrease from 35.1% in 2023/24.
Attainment for school leavers who were looked after within the year has increased since 2009/10 at all levels but has dropped over the last three years.
39.9% of school leavers looked after within the year has at least one qualification at SCQF level 5 or better. This compares to 40.7% of those most recently looked after since the age of 12, 52.8% of those looked most recently looked after between the ages of 5 and 12, and 84.1% of all pupils.

Since 2009/10 the proportion of school leavers looked after during the year who enter initial positive destinations has increased overall from 58.1% in 2009/10 to 84.2% in 2024/25. However, this is a decrease from 85.3% in 2023/24.
Between 2009/10 and 2024/25 the proportion of looked after school leavers in a positive follow-up destination increased from 42.0% to 73.0%. This was an increase in the latest year from 72.4% in 2023/24.