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Publication - Statistics

Summary statistics for follow-up leaver destinations, no. 7: 2025 edition

Published
17 June 2025
Directorate
Learning Directorate
Topic
Children and families, Education, Work and skills

This statistical publication provides information on the follow-up destinations, nine months after the end of the school year, of 2023-24 school leavers from publicly funded secondary schools in Scotland.

Part of

Supporting documents

Section 2. School leaver follow-up destinations

Section 2.1 Destinations of school leavers

In 2023-24 93.1 per cent of school leavers were in a positive follow-up destination. This was higher than for 2022-23 school leavers (92.8 per cent).

This was mainly due to increases in the proportion of school leavers in Higher Education and Further Education. Compared to 2022-23, the proportion of school leavers who were Unemployed Seeking has decreased and the proportion who were Unemployed Not Seeking has increased slightly.

Chart 1: The proportion of school leavers in a positive follow-up destination increased compared to last year
Percentage of school leavers in a positive follow-up destination, 2009-10 to 2023-24

The overall trend is that the percentage of school leavers in a positive follow-up destination has increased from 85.9 per cent in 2009-10 to 93.1 per cent in 2023-24. The percent of school leavers in a positive follow-up destination is higher than for 2022-23 school leavers (92.8 per cent).

The most common follow-up destination was Higher Education, accounting for 38.1 per cent of school leavers. Employment was the next most popular destination, at 28.8 per cent. The proportion of school leavers in Employment fell in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23 but remains slightly higher than levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just over one-fifth of school leavers were in Further Education. The proportion in Further Education increased in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23.

The proportion of school leavers who were unemployed nine months after leaving school decreased slightly in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23.

A time series from 2009-10 is available in Supplementary Tables 1a and 1b.

Chart 2: The most common follow-up destination for school leavers is Higher Education followed by Employment and Further Education

Follow-up destination of leavers, 2018-19 to 2023-24

Between 2018-19 and 2023-24 Higher Education has consistently been the most common follow-up destination. In 2023-24 38.8 per cent of leavers were in Higher Education at follow-up which is higher than last year (37.1 per cent). Employment is the next most popular destination in 2023-24 at 28.8 per cent. This is lower than in 2022-23 but is higher than all years before 2020-21. In 2019-20 the percent of leavers in Employment at follow-up dipped below Further Education but has otherwise consistently been the second most popular destination. Further Education was the third most popular destination in 2023-24 at 21.9 per cent. This is slightly higher than in 2022-23. The proportion of school leavers who were Unemployed nine months after leaving school in 2023-24 was 6.1 per cent. This has decreased slightly since 2022-23 when 6.3 per cent of leavers were unemployed at follow-up.

Section 2.2 Destinations by stage

The most common follow-up destination varied by stage.

  • Most S6 leavers were in Higher Education (60.6 per cent);
  • The most common follow-up destination for S5 leavers was Employment (40.6 per cent) followed by Further Education (31.4 per cent);
  • The most common follow-up destination for S4 leavers was Further Education (40.8 per cent) followed by Employment (34.0 per cent).

Chart 3: S6 leavers are more likely to be in Higher Education while S5 leavers are more likely to be Employed and S4 leavers are more likely to be in Further Education 9 months after leaving school

Follow-up destination of school leavers by stage of leaving, 2023-24

The most common follow-up destination for S4 leavers in 2023-24 was Further Education (40.8%) followed by Employment (34.0%). The most common follow-up destination for S5 leavers was Employment (40.6%) followed by Further Education (31.4%). The most common follow-up destination for S6 leavers was Higher Education (60.6%) followed by Employment (21.7%).

Pupils who leave school in S6 are the most likely to be in a positive follow-up destination. Those who leave in S4 are the least likely. In 2023-24,

  • 96.5 per cent of those who left school in S6 were in a positive follow-up destination. This is up from 96.1 per cent in 2022-23.
  • Among S5 leavers, 90.0 per cent were in a positive follow-up destination. This is up very slightly from 89.9 per cent in 2022-23.
  • And among S4 leavers 85.8 per cent were in a positive follow-up destination. This is up very slightly from 85.7 per cent in 2022-23.

A time series from 2009-10 is available in Table L1.9 in the supplementary tables.

Section 2.3 Destinations by deprivation

In 2023-24 the proportion of school leavers in a positive follow-up destination decreased slightly compared to 2022-23 for the most deprived areas of Scotland (by 0.2 percentage points). This was due to a decrease in the proportion of school leavers in Employment (down by 2.6 percentage points).

However, compared to 2022-23 there were increases in the proportion of leavers from the most deprived areas of Scotland in Further Education (up by 0.8 percentage points), Higher Education (up by 0.6 percentage points) and Training (up by 0.5 percentage points),

For the least deprived areas of Scotland, the proportion of school leavers in a positive follow-up destination increased compared to 2022-23 (by 0.6 percentage points). This was due to an increase in the proportion of school leavers in Higher Education (up by 2.9 percentage points). There was however a decrease in leavers from the least deprived areas going into Employment (down by 2.8 percentage points). Compared to last year, a decrease in the proportion of leavers going into Employment was seen across all SIMD quintiles. 

As a result, the gap between the two groups has widened from 7.5 percentage points in 2022-23 to 8.3 percentage points in 2023-24.

A full time series from 2009-10 is available in Supplementary Table 2.

Chart 4. The deprivation gap for positive follow-up destinations has widened compared to last year

Percentage of school leavers in a positive follow-up destination, by SIMD, 2018-19 to 2023-24

In 2023-24, 97.0% of leavers from the least deprived areas were in a positive follow-up destination, compared with 88.7% of leavers from the most deprived areas. The gap between the two groups in 2023-24 was therefore 8.3 percentage points. The gap between the two groups has widened since last year when it was 7.5 percentage points. Over the longer term the gap has generally narrowed. In 2009-10 the gap between the two groups was 18.7 percentage points, when 93.8% of leavers from the least deprived areas and 75.1% of leavers from the most deprived areas were in a positive destination.

In 2023-24, the most common follow-up destination for leavers from the least deprived areas of Scotland was Higher Education. This was followed by Employment. These leavers were more likely to be in Higher Education than leavers from other areas. They were less likely to be in Further Education, Training, Employment, Voluntary Work, Personal Skills Development or to be unemployed.

The most common destination for leavers from the most deprived areas of Scotland was Further Education. This was followed by Employment and Higher Education. These leavers were more likely to be in Further Education, Training, Personal Skills Development or to be unemployed than those from other areas. They were also less likely to be in Higher Education than leavers from other areas.

More data on destinations by deprivation is available in Supplementary Table 2.

Chart 5: Leavers from the most deprived areas are most likely to be in Further Education whereas leavers from the least deprived areas are most likely to be in Higher Education 9 months after leaving

Percentage of school leavers from the most and least deprived areas, by follow-up destination category, 2023-24

97.0 per cent of school leavers from the least deprived areas in Scotland were in a positive destination compared to 88.7 per cent of school leavers from the most deprived areas in Scotland. School leavers from the least deprived areas in Scotland, were most likely to be in Higher Education (59.3 per cent), followed by Employment (22.8 per cent) and Further Education (12.9 per cent). For school leavers from the most deprived areas in Scotland, the most common destination was Further Education (29.9 per cent), followed by Employment (27.1 per cent) and Higher Education (24.6 per cent). School leavers from the most deprived areas in Scotland were more likely to be Unemployed Seeking (6.1 per cent) or Unemployed Not Seeking (4.2 per cent) than school leavers from the least deprived areas where 1.3 per cent were Unemployed Seeking and 1.2 per cent were Unemployed Not Seeking.

Section 2.4 Destinations by other pupil characteristics

The proportion of school leavers in a positive follow-up destination varies by pupil characteristics.

In 2023-24:

  • Female school leavers were more likely to be in a positive destination than male school leavers.
  • School leavers of Asian – Indian or Asian – Chinese ethnicity were more likely to be in a positive destination than those in other ethnic groups.
  • School leavers from Remote Rural areas, Accessible Rural areas and Acessible Small Towns were more likely to be in a positive destination than those from other areas.
  • School leavers who did not have an Additional Support Need (ASN) were more likely to be in a positive destination than those who had an ASN.
  • School leavers who were not declared or assessed as disabled were more likely to be in a positive destination than those who were declared or assessed as disabled.

These patterns are similar to those for other years. More information on destinations by pupil characteristics is available in Supplementary Table 3.

Chart 6: The proportion of leavers in a positive destination differs by pupil characteristic

Proportion of school leavers in a positive follow-up destination by pupil characteristic, 2023-24

Sex: In 2023-24, Female school leavers were more likely to be in a positive destination (93.6 per cent) than Males (92.7 per cent). Ethnicity: Asian – Indian and Asian – Chinese school leavers were the most likely to be in a positive destination at follow-up (98.1 per cent and 97.4 per cent respectively). Those least likely to be in a positive follow-up destination were White-Scottish (92.9 per cent) and White – non-Scottish (93.0 per cent). Location: School leavers from Remote Rural areas, Accessible Rural areas and Accessible Small Towns were most likely to be in a positive follow-up destination (94.8 per cent, 94.1 per cent and 94.1 per cent respectively). All other locations had similar proportions of leavers in positive follow-up destinations: Large Urban Areas – 92.8 per cent, Other urban Areas – 92.6 per cent, and Remote Small Towns – 92.6 per cent. Additional Support Need (ASN): Leavers without ASN were most likely to be in a positive follow-up destination (96.3 per cent) compared to those with ASN (89.3 per cent). Disability: Leavers who were Not declared or assessed disabled were most likely to be in a positive follow-up destination (93.3 per cent) compared to those who were (88.8 per cent).

Contact

school.stats@gov.scot

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