New figures have shown that the gap between the richest and poorest school leavers in Scotland has widened over the past year. 

The Scottish Government released statistics on Tuesday that showed the number of school leavers in education, training or employed nine months after the end of their final school year was down on the previous 12 months. 

It moved from 93.5% to 92.8% in 2022/23 but the biggest gap comes in the differentials from richest backgrounds to the poorest. 

According to the figures, 88.9% of people from the most deprived areas of Scotland were in so-called 'positive destinations' while it 96.4% from the most affluent areas of the country, a gap of 7.5%. 

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In the year before, the gap was 7% – when 89.7% of those from the poorest areas reported being in a positive destination compared to 96.7% of their more affluent counterparts.

Those from the least well-off areas were also more likely to be unemployed and looking for work, at 6.7%, compared to 1.7% of those who were more wealthy.

Overall, the highest proportion of school leavers in 22/23 went on to university, with 37.1% in higher education, followed by 31.2% in employment and 21.2% attending college.

The proportion who were unemployed and seeking work also increased year-on-year from 3.4% to 3.7%, as did the proportion unemployed and not looking for a job – from 2.4% to 2.6%.

The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.