Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2023/24

School attendance

• The attendance rate for pupils who were looked after has decreased in the last year, whereas the attendance rate for all pupils has increased slightly over the same period.
• Pupils who were looked after at home with parents during 2023/24 had the lowest attendance rates across all accommodation types for looked after children.

Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL)

• 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 decreased in 2023/24 compared to 2022/23 for all subjects at P7 and S3 stages. The gap has shown more variation for P1 and P4 over the previous two years, across all subjects.

School leavers stages and attainment

• The proportion of looked after leavers who left school in S4 or earlier has declined substantially since 2009/10, but increased slightly in each of the last two years.
• Attainment for school leavers who were looked after within the year has increased since 2009/10 at all levels but dropped slightly in the last two years.
• The gap between the proportion of looked after leavers and all children who achieve at least one qualification at SCQF level 5 or better has increased slightly since 2021/22, following a large decrease since 2009/10.
• Attainment levels were generally higher for school leavers looked after in community accommodation compared to residential accommodation. However, school leavers looked after at home had among the lowest attainment levels of all placement types.
• School leavers who had a single placement in 2023/24 had higher levels of attainment than those with two or more placements.

School leavers destinations

• Since 2009/10 the proportion of school leavers looked after during the year that enter initial positive destinations has increased but has decreased compared to 2022/23.
• The gap between the proportion of looked after leavers and all leavers who are in positive follow-up destinations has decreased compared to both 2009/10 and 2022/23.