19 June 2018

Statistics on Education Outcomes for Scotland's Looked After Children

Figures published today (19 June 2018) show that the educational outcomes for looked after children have improved, however, there are still large gaps compared with all pupils. The statistics cover the period 1 August 2016 - 31 July 2017.

The data shows that the proportions of looked after school leavers achieving all levels of qualification have improved since 2009/10. The percentage of children looked after for the full year achieving at least SCQF level 5 has increased from 15% in 2009/10 to 44% in 2016/17. Looked after school leavers continue to have lower attainment than other school leavers, but the gap between children looked after for the full year and all school leavers has narrowed from 62% in 2009/10 to 42% in 2016/17.

While looked after children are less likely to be in positive destinations nine months after leaving school, the gap between children looked after for the full year and all school leavers has narrowed from 45% in 2009/10 to 17% in 2016/17.

The school attendance of looked after children has improved since 2009/10, but improvement has stalled and it is still below that of all pupils. The exclusion rate for children looked after for the full year has nearly halved. The rate is still much higher than for the general school population, but the gap is narrowing steadily.

See our education pages to find out the work CELCIS is involved in.