Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations, No. 8: 2026 edition

Section 4. School leaver attainment in All SCQF qualifications

The statistics in this section relate to the All SCQF attainment measure. The All SCQF measure includes a range of qualifications from SQA and other providers. Please refer to Section 1.3 in this report and Section 4 of the Methodology document for an explanation of how these differ to the figures in Section 5 which are based on the National Qualifications attainment measure.

As described in Section 1.4, the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) led to changes in how many qualifications were assessed and graded in the years 2020 to 2023. This should be kept in mind when comparing between years. A dashed line break in the series between 2018-19 and 2019-20 is shown to highlight where the changes in assessment happened.

Section 4.1 School leaver attainment under the All SCQF measure

In 2024-25, 2.4 per cent of school leavers left with their highest qualification at SCQF Level 3, 7.6 per cent with their highest qualification at SCQF Level 4 and 19.7 per cent with their highest qualification at SCQF Level 5.

Based on the All SCQF measure, 42.1 per cent of 2024-25 school leavers left with SCQF Level 6 as their highest qualification level and 26.2 per cent left with SCQF Level 7.

The proportion of school leavers who attained their highest qualification at SCQF Levels 6 or 7 was 68.3%, an increase from 66.5% in 2023-24 and 66.2% in 2018-19.

A small proportion (2.0 per cent) of school leavers attained no passes at SCQF Level 3 or better in 2024-25, under the All SCQF measure. This is similar to the proportions observed over the last few years. Some of these school leavers have attainment either in courses at SCQF Levels 1 or 2 or in units. Details can be found in Supplementary Table PC2.

A full time series showing the highest SCQF level achieved by school leavers under the All SCQF measure since 2009-10 can be found in Supplementary Table 4. A timeseries since 2014-15 of the highest SCQF Level achieved by school leavers broken down by stage of leaving can be found in Supplementary Tables PC1a and PC1b.

Chart 8: The proportion of school leavers who attained their highest qualification at SCQF Level 6 or 7 has increased since last year
Percentage of school leavers by highest SCQF Level achieved under the All SCQF measure, 2018-19 to 2024-25

All SCQF measure - five or more passes at each SCQF Level

In 2024-25, 84.3 per cent of school leavers left with five or more passes at SCQF Level 4 or better under the All SCQF measure. This proportion has increased compared to 2023-24 (84.1 per cent) but decreased compared to 2018-19 (85.5 per cent).

The proportion of school leavers who left with five or more passes at SCQF Level 5 or better in 2024-25 was 68.6 per cent. This is an increase compared to both 2023-24 (66.6 per cent) and 2018-19 (64.3 per cent).

The proportion of school leavers who left with five or more passes at SCQF Level 6 or better in 2024-25 was 40.8 per cent. This is an increase compared to both 2023-24 (39.0 per cent) and 2018-19 (36.0 per cent).

A time series from 2009-10 to 2024-25 is presented in Table 5 and 5a in the supplementary tables.

Table 2: Leaver attainment by SCQF Level and number of passes achieved under the All SCQF measure, percentage of leavers, 2024-25

SCQF Level	1 pass or more	2 passes or more	3 passes or more	4 passes or more	5 passes or more	6 passes or more	7 passes or more
3 or better	98.0	96.3	94.0	91.7	88.6	83.1	76.4
4 or better	95.6	92.8	90.2	87.5	84.3	79.5	73.3
5 or better	88.0	82.6	78.2	73.5	68.6	62.9	56.3
6 or better	68.3	59.8	53.6	47.5	40.8	31.5	21.6
7	26.2	12.0	4.7	0.7	0.1	[low]	[low]

 [low] = value less than 0.05 per cent but greater than zero. See the ‘Glossary and symbols used’ Section for a list of all symbols used in the tables.

Section 4.2 School leaver attainment under the All SCQF measure, by deprivation

This Section presents school leaver attainment based on the All SCQF measure broken down by deprivation levels as measured by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD).

As outlined in Section 3.3, the National Improvement Framework monitors the poverty-related attainment gap based on a basket of key measures. Three of these measures, introduced this year, are based on school leaver attainment under the All SCQF measure by deprivation, namely:

• The percentage of senior phase secondary school leavers achieving five or more passes at SCQF Level 4 or better under the All SCQF measure
• The percentage of senior phase secondary school leavers achieving five or more passes at SCQF Level 5 or better under the All SCQF measure
• The percentage of senior phase secondary school leavers achieving five or more passes at SCQF Level 6 or better under the All SCQF measure

As described in Section 1.4, there were changes in how some qualifications were assessed and graded in the years 2020 to 2023, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, care should be taken when making comparisons between 2023-24 and earlier years. Any increase or decrease should not be interpreted as indicating improving or worsening performance without further evidence.

At SCQF Level 4 or better, the gap between the proportion of school leavers from the most deprived and least deprived areas attaining five or more passes based on the All SCQF measure was 19.5 percentage points in 2024-25. This has widened from 19.0 percentage points in 2023-24.

Between 2023-24 and 2024-25 the proportion attaining five or more passes at this level increased for school leavers from both the most and the least deprived areas. But it increased by more for those from the least deprived areas, which has led to the gap between the two groups widening.

Longer term, the gap between the proportion of school leavers from the most deprived and least deprived areas attaining five or more passes SCQF Level 4 or better initially narrowed over time, starting from 30.4 percentage points in 2009-10 and reaching its narrowest in 2016-17 (16.6 percentage points). Since 2016-17 the gap has fluctuated but remained below 20 percentage points. In 2024-25 the gap is at its widest since 2013-14.

A full time series for the proportion of leavers attaining five or more passes at SCQF Level 4 or better, SCQF Level 5 or better and SCQF Level 6 or better since 2009-10 under the All SCQF measure is available in Table S1.2 of the supplementary tables.

At SCQF Level 5 or better, the gap between the proportion of school leavers from the most deprived and least deprived areas attaining five or more passes based on the All SCQF measure was 33.6 percentage points in 2024-25. This is the narrowest gap at this level since records began in 2009-10.

Between 2023-24 and 2024-25 the proportion attaining five or more passes at this level increased for school leavers from both the most and the least deprived areas. But it increased by more for those from the most deprived areas, which has led to the gap between the two groups narrowing.

Longer term, the gap has narrowed most years, starting from 45.7 percentage points in 2009-10 and reaching its narrowest this year (33.6 percentage points).

At SCQF Level 6 or better, the gap between the proportion of school leavers from the most deprived and least deprived areas attaining five or more passes based on the All SCQF measure was 40.0 percentage points in 2024-25. This is wider than in 2023-24 (39.7 percentage points).

Between 2023-24 and 2024-25 the proportion attaining five or more passes at this level increased for school leavers from both the most and the least deprived areas. But it increased by more for those from the least deprived areas, which has led to the gap between the two groups widening.

Longer term, the gap has generally widened, starting from 36.3 percentage points in 2009-10, reaching its widest, excluding the pandemic years, in 2017-18 (40.1 percentage points). Although the gap between the two groups has widened over time, the proportion attaining five or more passes at this level has increased almost every year for leavers from both the most and least deprived areas. However, the proportion of leavers achieving five or more passes at SCQF Level 6 from the least deprived areas has increased by more leading to a widening of the gap.

Chart 9: The attainment gap has widened at SCQF Levels 4 and 6 compared to last year but narrowed at Level 5

Percentage of school leavers by attainment at SCQF Level 4 to 6 or better under the All SCQF measure, by SIMD quintile, 2018-19 to 2024-25

Section 4.3 School leaver attainment under the All SCQF measure, by pupil characteristic

Female pupils outperform male pupils at SCQF Levels 4 to 6, with the gap being wider at higher SCQF levels.

Asian-Chinese pupils have high levels of attainment compared to other groups, with 93.9 per cent achieving five or more passes at SCQF Level 5 or better in 2024-25.

Pupils with a recorded Additional Support Need (ASN) are less likely to achieve five or more passes at SCQF Levels 4 to 6 compared to pupils without an ASN. Similarly, pupils who are declared or assessed disabled are less likely to achieve five or more passes at SCQF Levels 4 to 6 compared to pupils who are not. The number of pupils with a recorded ASN has increased markedly over recent years (see Table 1.5 of the pupil census supplementary tables) These increases were likely due in part to continued improvements in recording and the introduction of the additional need types ‘Child Plans’ and ‘Other’ in 2011. This should be kept in mind when interpreting attainment data by Additional Support Needs.

In 2024-25 pupils living in Accessible Rural areas are the most likely to achieve five or more passes at SCQF Levels 4 and 5. At SCQF Level 6 pupils living in Large Urban and Accessible Rural areas are the most likely to achieve five or more passes. Pupils living in Remote Small Towns are the least likely to achieve five or more passes at SCQF Levels 4 to 6.

Broad patterns in attainment by pupil characteristic are typically stable year on year, although small numbers in some characteristic groups mean fluctuations do occur. When comparing to 2023-24, a lower proportion of 2024-25 school leavers achieved five or more passes at SCQF Level 4 or better across most characteristic breakdowns. Conversely, a higher proportion of 2024-25 school leavers achieved five or more passes at both SCQF Level 5 and 6 across almost all characteristic breakdowns when comparing to 2023-24.

A full time series for school leaver attainment under the All SCQF measure, by pupil characteristic since 2009-10 can be found in Supplementary Table 6.

Table 3: The attainment gap between leavers with different pupil characteristics generally increases as the SCQF Level increases

Percentage of school leavers achieving five or more passes at SCQF Level 4 to 6 or better under the All SCQF measure, by pupil characteristic, 2024-25

Pupil Characteristic	5 or more at SCQF Level 4 or better	5 or more at SCQF Level 5 or better	5 or more at SCQF Level 6 or better
Sex
Male	83.6	65.6	35.4
Female	85.0	71.6	46.2
Ethnicity
White – Scottish	83.8	67.1	38.6
White – non-Scottish	85.1	71.0	43.1
Mixed or multiple ethnic groups	88.8	78.8	55.4
Asian – Indian	94.3	88.2	71.9
Asian – Pakistani	92.7	81.0	56.8
Asian – Chinese	95.6	93.9	80.2
Asian – Other	85.9	77.5	54.1
African/ Black/ Caribbean	86.4	77.7	50.4
All other categories	78.5	66.1	40.7
Not Disclosed/Not known	75.4	59.1	34.2
Urban/Rural
Large Urban Areas	84.9	70.3	43.5
Other Urban Areas	83.7	66.5	39.3
Accessible Small Towns	84.0	68.8	39.8
Remote Small Towns	75.1	55.8	24.1
Accessible Rural	85.9	70.9	42.6
Remote Rural	82.8	66.8	32.9
Additional Support Needs
ASN	74.4	53.1	25.9
No ASN	93.6	83.2	54.8
Disabled status
Declared or assessed disabled	68.7	45.9	19.4
Not declared or assessed disabled	84.9	69.5	41.7
All Leavers	84.3	68.6	40.8

Section 4.4 School leaver destinations and attainment under the All SCQF measure   

In 2024-25, the majority of school leavers whose highest SCQF level achieved was Level 6 or Level 7 entered Higher Education (45.8 per cent and 86.2 per cent respectively). For all other attainment levels, the most common destination was Further Education. For example, 50.6 per cent of leavers whose highest National Qualification was at SCQF Level 5 entered Further Education. This compares to 41.6 per cent of those whose highest qualification was at SCQF Level 4 and 30.9 per cent of those whose highest qualification was at SCQF Level 3. Amongst those with no passes at SCQF Level 3, 24.5 per cent entered Further Education. 

Leavers with no passes at SCQF Level 3 or better were the most likely to be in Other Destinations (30.0 per cent), and leavers whose highest qualification was at SCQF Level 7 were the least likely to be in Other Destinations (0.6 per cent).

A full time series showing school leaver initial destinations by highest SCQF Level achieved under the All SCQF measure since 2009-10 can be found in Supplementary Table 7.

Table 4: School leavers whose highest qualification was at SCQF Level 6 or 7 were most likely to enter Higher Education and for all other attainment levels Further Education was the most common destination

Percentage of school leavers by highest SCQF Level achieved under the National Qualifications measure and initial destinations category, 2024-25

Initial Destination	No passes at SCQF 3 or better	SCQF Level 3	SCQF Level 4	SCQF Level 5	SCQF Level 6	SCQF Level 7	Total
Higher Education	[c]	[c]	0.4	1.9	45.8	86.2	42.3
Further Education	24.5	30.9	41.6	50.6	25.3	3.8	26.0
Training	15.2	23.1	15.3	5.9	1.8	0.3	4.0
Employment	18.5	16.7	23.2	34.3	23.8	8.7	21.6
Voluntary Work	[c]	[c]	1.2	0.8	0.6	0.4	0.7
Personal Skills Development	9.4	7.1	4.5	1.1	0.4	0.0	1.1
Positive Destinations	70.0	79.0	86.2	94.6	97.7	99.4	95.7
Unemployed Seeking	10.8	8.7	7.7	3.4	1.5	0.4	2.4
Unemployed Not Seeking	15.9	11.7	5.1	1.5	0.5	0.1	1.6
Unknown	3.3	0.6	1.1	0.5	0.2	0.1	0.4
Other Destinations	30.0	21.0	13.8	5.4	2.3	0.6	4.3
Number of Leavers	1,143	1,330	4,235	10,977	23,460	14,633	55,778

Section 4.5 School leaver attainment under the All SCQF measure, by local authority

As outlined in the Methodology document Section 3.4, local authority results can be affected by the different presentation policies used in different local authorities. This means that, in any year, the attainment of school leavers from one local authority may be more heavily influenced by qualifications associated with a smaller number of SCQF credit points than in another.

For example, if presentation policies in one local authority result in more pupils taking qualifications worth one or two SCQF credit points, this may lead to higher attainment levels in that authority because these qualifications require less time to complete. Presentation policies can also change within a single authority over time, creating year‑to‑year variation in attainment patterns.

Measuring attainment under the All SCQF measure using five or more qualifications at a given SCQF level rather than one or more reduces the influence of qualifications with very small credit points, making results less sensitive to these differences in presentation policies.

Annex B of the supplementary tables and Section 4.2 of the Methodology document shows the proportion of qualifications attained by school leavers at SCQF Level 6 and above that were associated with one or two SCQF credit points (10 or 20 notional learning hours) in 2018-19 to 2024-25. There is considerable variation both between local authorities and within individual authorities over time. This is important to bear in mind when interpreting the results in this section.

When comparing local authorities, it is important to take account the wider context of each area. Factors such as levels of poverty or deprivation, the stage at which pupils leave school, and the structure of the local economy (for example, the availability of post‑school opportunities in employment or further education) may influence the levels of attainment with which pupils leave school. These contextual differences should be taken into account when making comparisons.

When looking at changes in attainment under the All SCQF measure over time, it is also important to note that the number of award providers and qualifications included in the measure has increased. In addition, the SCQF credit points of included qualifications have changed over time (see Sections 3.2 and 3.3 of the Methodology document). Variation in presentation policy within a single local authority may also affect attainment figures. For more information see Section 3.4 of the Methodology document.

In 2024-25, for five or more passes at SCQF Level 4 or better, attainment across local authorities under the All SCQF measure ranged from 75.0 per cent to 95.4 per cent, a range of 20.3 percentage points. For five or more passes at SCQF Level 5 or better, All SCQF attainment ranged from 58.0 per cent to 90.5 per cent, a range of 32.5 percentage points. For five or more passes at SCQF Level 6 or better, All SCQF attainment ranged from 28.3 per cent to 73.2 per cent, a range of 44.9 percentage points.

A time series for school leaver attainment under the All SCQF measure, by local authority can be found in Supplementary Table 8.

Chart 10: The range in attainment between local authorities widens as the SCQF Level increases

Total school leaver attainment under the All SCQF measure, by local authority, 2024-25 (percentage of leavers)

Further data on attainment by local authority for are provided in Table S2.1 in the supplementary tables. The Supplementary Tables S2.2a and S2.2b also include a breakdown of attainment under the All SCQF measure in each local authority by deprivation.