Kids in care doing well in school exams

Children in care are achieving exam results above the national average.

West Lothian Council’s education policy development and scrutiny panel (PDSP) was given an update on the performance of looked-after children (LACs) in Level 5 and Level 6 exams.

The panel heard that the performance of LAC children was better than their peers across the country in almost all recorded measures.

This included an increase in S4 LACs achieving five or more Level 5 qualifications, S6 LACs achieving one or more Level 6 qualifications, S6 LACs achieving three or more Level 6 qualifications and S6 LACs achieving five or more Level 6 qualifications.

Executive councillor for education David Dodds said:“These figures demonstrate that the attainment of looked-after children in West Lothian schools compares favourably when compared to the national average.

“This reflects the hard work of the pupils, staff and carers and we hope this trend continues moving forward.

“We will continue to monitor performance in these measures in the hope that we can continue this excellent performance.”

A child who has been in the care of their local authority for more than 24 hours is known as a looked-after child. Scotland’s definition also includes children under a supervision requirement order.

This means that many of the lookedafter children in Scotland are still living at home but with regular contact from social services.