Statistics have been released recently on the destinations and attainment of 2022-23 leavers from Scotland’s publicly funded schools.
Initial destinations
95.9% of 2022-23 school leavers were in a positive destination three months after the end of the school year. This was higher than in 2021-22 (95.7%) and is the highest since the current time series began in 2009-10. Positive destinations include higher education, further education, employment, training, personal skills development and voluntary work.
The gap between the proportion of school leavers from the most and least deprived areas is 3.7 percentage points and is the narrowest it has been since the current time series began in 2009-10.
Attainment in National Qualifications
The statistics also show the proportion of 2022-23 school leavers who attained passes in National Qualifications at different Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Levels. National Qualifications include the National Courses (National 3, National 4, National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher), and Skills for Work.
The proportions of pupils who left school having attained one pass or more at SCQF Levels 4 or better, 5 or better, 6 or better and 7 under the National Qualifications measure have all decreased compared to 2021-22. The proportion of leavers with one pass or more at SCQF Level 5 or better is at its lowest level since 2013-14 and the proportion with a pass at SCQF Level 6 or better is at its lowest since 2012-13.
Attainment increased following changes to the approaches to determining attainment and grades in 2020 and 2021. It has now decreased following changes back toward approaches used before the pandemic and has fallen below levels seen immediately prior to the pandemic. The attainment figures will also reflect the increased proportions of S4 and S5 leavers and the decreased proportion of S6 leavers in 2022-23 compared to other recent years.
Attainment in All Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (All SCQF) qualifications
For the first time, this release also includes statistics which show the proportion of school leavers who attained any qualification or learning programme on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF). These include the SQA National Qualifications, other qualifications provided by the SQA and qualifications and learning programmes from other providers (for example the Open University).
As for the National Qualifications measure, under the All SCQF measure, the proportions of pupils who left school having attained one pass or more at SCQF Levels 4 or better, 5 or better, 6 or better or 7 have all decreased compared to 2021-22. Again, these figures will reflect the impact of the different certification approaches and the changes in the proportions of S4, S5 and S6 pupils leaving school in 2022-23 compared to other recent years.
Further details on the impact of the pandemic on these statistics can be found in the statistical release.