Record number of young in work, training or education – but poverty gap remains

Statistics show that in the poorest 10 per cent of the country just 61.8 per cent of young adults were still participating in education

Three in five 16- to 19-yearolds from Scotland’s most deprived communities are still in education, compared to more than four-fifths of their counterparts from the most affluent areas, figures released this week reveal.

In the poorest 10 per cent of the country, 61.8 per cent of young adults were still participating in education – whether that be school, college or university. But in the least deprived 10 per cent of areas, that rose to 83.9 per cent – a difference of 22.1 points.

The gap was revealed in new figures which showed overall a record 91.8 per cent of 16 to 19-year-olds in Scotland in either education, employment or training in 2018 – up by 0.7 percentage points from the previous year.

Fewer than one in 29 (3.4 per cent) of this age group were not participating in education, training or employment – with 1.7 per cent of youths unemployed and seeking work and the same proportion unemployed and not looking for a job.

The status of 4.7 per cent of 16to 19-year-olds could not be confirmed, according to the figures, which were published by training body Skills Development Scotland.

Overall, 71.3 per cent of young adults in this group were in education, with 40.5 per cent at school, 19.8 per cent in higher education and 11 per cent in further education.

But among non-white ethnic groups, the proportion who were in education was 87.1 per cent – 15.8 percentage points higher than the national average.

Almost one in five (18.7 per cent) of all 16- to 19-year-olds were recorded as being in work, with 50.5 per cent of this group having a full-time job while 34.9 per cent were doing a Modern Apprenticeship.

Meanwhile just under one in 50 (1.9 per cent) in this age group were classed as being in training – which includes those undertaking voluntary work.

Jamie Hepburn, Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills, said: “These record figures show that our efforts to encourage and support young people to stay in learning, training and work are working for the vast majority across Scotland.

“As well as a continued reduction in the participation gap for those living in the most deprived areas, reflecting the impact our commitment to delivering excellence and equity for all is having a positive impact on participation rates, I am particularly pleased to see a record increase in the number of young people from minority ethnic backgrounds in education. 0 A record number of young people in Scotland are in education, employment or training

“The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering positive outcomes for all our young people. As well as achieving our target to reduce unemployment by 40 per cent four years ahead of schedule, we exceeded the annual target of 27,000 Modern Apprenticeships opportunities in 2017-18.

“We are now working towards delivering 28,000 opportunities in 2018-2019 in line with our commitment to increase MA starts to 30,000 by 2020.”

The statistics are tied to the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework (NPF), a ten year vision to measure national wellbeing beyond GDP, and the commitment to “increase the proportion of young people in learning, training or work”.

The latest Participation Measure report marks the fourth release of statistics on the participation of 16-19-year-olds at a national and local authority level.