Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2024/25

School leavers stage and attainment

Headline findings

• Attainment for school leavers who were looked after within the year has increased overall since 2009/10 at all levels but dropped slightly in each of the last three years. For looked after leavers achieving SCQF level 5 or better, there has been an overall increase from 13.2% in 2009/10, to 39.9% in 2024/25, though this has decreased year-on-year since 2022/23 (42.3% in 2022/23 and 40.8% in 2023/24).
• The gap between the proportion of looked after leavers and all children who achieve SCQF level 5 or better has decreased since 2009/10. The gap decreased from 63.9 percentage points in 2009/10 to 48.1 in 2024/25 (up from 42.7 percentage points in 2023/24 and 42.1 percentage points in 2022/23).
• The proportion of looked after leavers with no qualifications at SCQF level 3 or better has remained at 15.3% for 2024/25, following an increase in the previous three years (11.8% in 2021/22, 13.9% in 2022/23 and 15.3% in 2023/24).
• Of the school leavers who were looked after within the year, 69.6% had at least one qualification at SCQF level 4 or better, compared to 71.4% of those who were looked after since turning 12 but not in the last year, and 81.3% of those looked after between 5 and 12.
• The proportion of looked after leavers who left school in S4 or earlier has declined from 62.8% in 2009/10 to 31.8% in 2024/25, decreasing from 35.1% in 2023/24 and 34.3% in 2022/23.
• Of school leavers looked after at home with parents, 78.0% achieved at least one qualification at SCQF level 3 or better. This reduces to 46.1%, 10.8%, and 3% at SCQF levels 4, 5, and 6 (or better) respectively. The proportion achieving SCQF level 4 for those looked after at home with parents was lower than in 2023/24 (50.8%), but the proportion was higher for SCQF levels 5 and 6 (10.6% and 0.8% respectively).

Stage of school leavers

In 2024/25, 31.8% of leavers looked after during the year left in S4 or earlier (Chart 4). This proportion was lower for children who had been looked after since turning 12 years old but not in the last year, with 23.9% leaving at this stage. However, there remained a 18.3 percentage points gap between the percentage of looked after school leavers and all leavers leaving school at S4 or earlier (13.5%).

Chart 4: Stage of school leavers

Percentage of school leavers leaving school at each stage for looked after leavers and all leavers, 2024/25.

The proportion of school leavers looked after within the year who left school in S4 or earlier declined considerably between 2009/10 (62.8%) and 2021/22 (31.7%). There was a slight increase in the percentage in the following two years to 34.4% in 2022/23 and 35.1% in 2023/24 (Chart 5). In the latest year the proportion of school leavers looked after within the year who left school in S4 or earlier has decreased to 31.8%. The percentage of school leavers who left school in S4 or earlier for all pupils also decreased from 14.4% in 2023/24 to 13.5% in 2024/25.

The percentage of school leavers in S4 continues to remain considerably higher for looked after children compared to all school leavers, although the gap between these groups has decreased from 46.1 percentage points in 2009/10 to 18.3 percentage points in 2024/25.

Chart 5: School leavers leaving school in S4 or earlier

Percentage of school leavers leaving school in S4 or earlier for school leavers looked after within the year and all leavers, 2009/10 to 2024/25.

School leavers' attainment

This publication reports on the highest Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) level achieved at SCQF Levels 3 to 7 in National Qualifications. Please refer to background notes for more information.

In 2024/25, looked after school leavers had lower levels of attainment than all school leavers (Table 15). Of school leavers looked after within the year, 69.6% had at least one qualification at SCQF level 4 or better, compared to 71.4% and 81.3% for those most recently looked after since 12 and those looked after between 5 and 12. However, there is a considerable gap compared to all pupils, among whom 95.6% left school with at least one qualification at SCQF level 4 or better.

At higher levels of attainment, 39.9% of school leavers who were looked after during the year achieved SCQF level 5 or better, with this level achieved by 88.0% of all school leavers in 2024/25. The relative gap is higher at SCQF level 6. At SCQF level 6 or better, 14.4% of leavers looked after in the last year achieved at least one qualification, compared to 68.3% of all school leavers.

Table 15: Highest level of attainment achieved

Percentage of school leavers achieving SCQF levels for looked after school leavers and all leavers 2024/25 [Note 1].

[Note 1] All pupils data taken from Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations.

The proportion of leavers looked after within the year achieving all SCQF qualification levels (Chart 6a) continues to be consistently lower than that of all school leavers (Chart 6b). Trends since 2009/10 indicate improvement in attainment among looked after school leavers at all levels until 2022/23, but slight reductions since then. The percentage of looked after school leavers achieveing one or more SCQF level 5 or better has increased by 26.8 percentage points ( from 13.2% in 2009/10 to 39.9% in 2024/25). However, this is following a decrease in the past three years, down from a peak of 46.1% in 2021/22. The number of looked after leavers with no passes at SCQF 3 or better has shown an overall decrease from 24.6% in 2009/10 to 15.3% in 2024/25.

The gap in attainment between looked after and all school leavers has reduced for all SCQF levels compared to 2009/10. The gap between those looked after and all school leavers achieving one or more qualification at SCQF level 5 or better reduced by 19.7 percentage points between 2009/10 (63.9 percentage point difference) and 2024/25 (44.2 percentage point difference). Despite this overall decrease since 2009/10, the gap between looked after and all pupils has increased slightly each year since 2021/22, when the gap was 40.3 percentage points.

Chart 6a: Highest level of attainment achieved for school leavers looked after within the year

Percentage of school leavers achieving SCQF levels for school leavers looked after within the year, 2009/10 to 2024/25.

Chart 6b: Highest level of attainment achieved for all leavers

Percentage of school leavers achieving SCQF levels for all leavers, 2009/10 to 2024/25.

Placement type and number

As shown in Table 16, leavers’ educational attainment in 2024/25 varied by accommodation type. Overall, leavers looked after within the year who were placed in community settings showed broadly higher educational attainment when compared to those in residential settings (Table 16).  However, there is variation within these categories, and leavers looked after at home with parents were among the lowest attainment levels of all placement types, which follows a similar pattern to figures in 2024/25. Leavers who were placed with foster carers purchased by a local authority had the highest proportion of passes for SCQF Levels 4-6 or better.

Of the children looked after in community settings, 87% achieved at least one SCQF level 3 or better, with a drop to 73% at SCQF level 4 or better. This reduces further to 45% achieving at least one SCQF level 5 or better and 17% at SCQF level 6 or better (Table 16). For those in residential care, 80% achieved at least one SCQF level 3 or better. This reduces to 64% at SCQF level 4 or better, 27%  at SCQF level 5 or better and 8% at SCQF level 6 or better.

Table 16: Highest level of attainment achieved by placement type

Number and percentage of school leavers looked after within the year by highest year of attainment achieved and placement type, 2024/25.

Table 16 continued

[Note 1] Includes 'with prospecitve adopters'.

[Note 2] Includes 'in residential school', 'in secure care accommodation' and 'crisis care'.

It is possible for looked after children to have multiple placements during the year. In 2024/25, school leavers who had a single placement tended to achieve higher rates of attainment than the smaller number of children who had two or three placements. (Table 17).

Table 17: Highest level of attainment by number of placements

Number and percentage of school leaveres looked after within the year by highest level of attainment achieved and number of placements they had in the year, 2024/25.

Table 17 continued