Falkirk Council: Pupils praised for exam attainment but fewer leavers going into work, education or training

Despite so much disruption to education, Falkirk continued to see many positive results, particularly in numeracy and literacy across the council area.

in 2021/22, 98 per cent of school leavers had achieved at least a Level 4 in literacy, above the national average of 94 per cent, while passes at Level 5 were 83 per cent, in line with the national average.

In numeracy, 97 per cent of all school leavers had achieved at least a level 4 award, well above the national average of 91 per cent, while 80 per cent had achieved at least a level 5 award, above the national average of 71 per cent.

Members of Falkirk Council’s education, children and young people’s executive heard that 94.2 per cent of Falkirk’s 1703 school leavers had gone onto ‘positive destinations’ in either education, work or training.

There was some disappointment, though, as with a Scottish average of 95.7 per cent, Falkirk was 26th out of 32 local authorities.

Of the 98 leavers not in a positive destination, 31 were unemployed and not seeking work – which is usually due to long term physical or medical problems – while 56 were unemployed but seeking work and 11 were not known.

Compared to the previous year, five per cent fewer school leavers from the 2021/22 cohort went into Higher Education.

The acting head of education, Rhona Jay, said there was evidence that school leavers had heard of negative experiences from peers who had gone to university while covid restrictions were in place and had found the experience difficult.

There was also, however, a two per cent increase in school leavers starting a college course and a two per cent increase in those going straight into employment.

Ms Jay said they were now looking further at the figures to look at how to improve Falkirk’s placing.

She is also keen to do more analysis to ensure that young people are staying in education, as many have been struggling with remote learning while many universities and colleges continue to teach online.

The poverty related attainment gap between pupils living in the most deprived areas of Scotland and those in the least deprived has increased, “almost certainly due to the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic”, members were told.

But the gap has not widened as much in Falkirk as in other areas and Mrs Jay said she was confident that ongoing work would see it narrow once again.

The figures also show that 54 per cent of pupils leave Falkirk schools with three or more Level 6 awards (Higher or equivalent), slightly above the national average of 53 per cent.

There were also strong results from vocational training across various levels. This included 22 school leavers who gained at least one Level 7 vocational qualification, which is equivalent to Advanced Higher level – the highest number in Scotland.

Councillor Laura Murtagh, the administration’s education portfolio holder, said: “I want to thank the whole team across Children’s Services – these are positive results, reflective of the most challenging of circumstances.”

She said that it had been a time of huge anxiety for many children.

“They deserve our support unconditionally and our congratulations for all they have achieved.

“I don’t think it can be understated the challenges they have faced and I’m really extraordinarily grateful to those who have supported the children and families and continue to do so.”