More Falkirk school leavers heading for bright future

During the meeting it was stated 1554 young people left Falkirk Council secondary schools in 2020/21 – 141 pupils at the end of S4, 413 in S5 and 1000 in S6.

The figures show 95 per cent of school leavers entered a positive destination in line with other local authorities and the national average.

Falkirk Council now ranks 19th in Scotland for positive leaver destinations, increasing its position from 23rd last year.

Members heard, compared to the previous year, three per cent more school leavers went into higher education and there was also a seven per cent increase in school

leavers going straight into employment.

Falkirk Council director of children’s services Robert Naylor said: “It’s down to the hard work and commitment of pupils and staff that we see this very positive trend for

our young people when they leave school with steady increases in levels of attainment.

“This has all been achieved against a backdrop of the pandemic and shows that our attainment levels remain strong and are improving with more young people going

onto positive destinations in further education, employment and training.”

Raising attainment in literacy, numeracy and attainment is still a priority and is also improving across the board since the introduction of Curriculum for Excellence began in 2014.

In 2020/21 98 per cent of young people left school with level 4 literacy or above – well over the national average of 95 per cent and the highest score so far for Falkirk’s schools

That year also saw 97 per cent of young people leaving school with level 4 numeracy or above – again better than the national average of 92 per cent.

Falkirk Council now ranks 11th in Scotland for school leavers with three or more Level 6 course awards and 10th in Scotland for school leavers, with five or more Level 6 course awards.

The improvements in performance are due to a number of factors, including developments in tracking and monitoring of pupil progress, changes in curriculum structures allowing pupils to progress on different pathways, targeted interventions and greater partnership working.