MORE Scots are going to university than ever before, but the richest pupils are still three times more likely to get a place than the poorest.
New figures show more than 40 per cent of school-leavers went on to higher education, the most on record and more than pursue options such as vocational training or a job.
However, fewer than a quarter of the poorest pupils went to university in 2016/17 compared to 61 per cent from the most affluent neighbourhoods.
The figures were published a week after a leading industrialist claimed parents and teachers “pressurise” pupils to go to university without knowing whether it is the best option for them.
Sir Ian Wood, the former Wood Group chief executive and philanthropist, said the pervasive culture that higher education was “the be all and end all” was damaging to more than half the school population.
Universities Scotland, which represents the sector, welcomed the latest figures, but stressed higher education was “not for everyone”.
A spokesman said: “The news that the proportion of young people going to university is at a record level is positive.
“Young people should follow the path that best fits them, but we are interested in breaking down the very outdated notion that university is for some people and not others.”
The figures from the Scottish Government also showed the attainment gap between rich and poor is narrowing.
This year 41.5 per cent of the poorest pupils secured at least one Higher - up from less than a quarter in 2009/10.
Disadvantaged pupils are still outperformed by those from the richest communities where 83.6 per cent achieved the benchmark - but the gap is closing.
John Swinney, the Education Secretary, said the figures showed “real improvement”.
He said: “These figures are indicative of a high performing education system which is testament to the efforts of school staff and education leaders.
“The action of this government is delivering real improvement in our schools and implementation of reforms to empower schools and school leaders will accelerate this.”
Iain Gray, education spokesman for the Scottish Labour Party, welcomed the progress, but said there should be no complacency from the government.
He added: “A young person from the richest background is almost three times more likely to go to university that a young person from the poorest.”
Overall, the figures showed more than a quarter of school-leavers went into work, with 23 per cent going to college.
For pupils in care the number in positive destinations increased from 40 per cent in 2009/10 to 76 per cent.
The percentage of pupils who took a school meal decreased from 56.9 per cent in 2017 to 55 per cent in 2018.
The proportion of all schools meeting physical education targets in primary and secondary increased from 98 per cent to 99 per cent.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel