A top government adviser has warned that the status quo is “unacceptable” as official data provides an insight into the educational experiences of looked-after young people across Scotland.

The newly-published material - Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2022/23 - provides information on issues such as literacy and numeracy rates, attainment of qualifications, post-school destinations, and exclusions. Although progress has been made, extremely large gaps can still be seen when comparing the figures for care experienced young people to those of the total pupil population. In some cases, the data also suggests that problems have worsened in recent years.

Statistics on the achievement of expected levels in literacy and numeracy are provided for pupils in primary 1, primary 4, primary 7 and S3, with breakdowns between those who do and do not have experience of being looked after in the care system.

The figures show that the gap between the two groups has declined at primary 4 and primary 7, but has increased amongst primary 1 and S3 pupils, with the latter group recording the largest shifts since 2019.

In 2023, around 60% of pupils who had been looked after in the past year achieved the expected levels of literacy and numeracy for S3, but the corresponding figures for the pupil population as a whole were around 90%.

Compared to the final pre-pandemic year, S3 attainment gaps have grown by 4.8 percentage points in reading, 4.5 percentage points in writing, 4.7 percentage points in listening and talking, and 3.1 percentage points in numeracy.

Data is also provided on school leavers’ attainment levels and their post-school destinations.

Attainment is measured by recording the percentage of pupils gaining one or more qualifications at each available level from three to seven. Level six qualifications include Highers and other equivalent courses.

The latest figures show that those with no experience of the care system are twice as likely to leave school with at least one level five qualification, and nearly four times as likely to leave with as least one level six qualification, as those who have been looked after within the previous year.

At levels three, four, five and six the gaps are smaller than they were a decade ago, but they have increased since 2022 in three of the four categories.

Destination data also reveals a significant divide between those who do and do not have experience of the care system.

Amongst all school leavers, 40.3 percent were recorded as Higher education students, but the figure for those who had been looked after in the past year was just 8.6 percent. Instead, care-experienced school leavers were far more likely to go to further education, with 47.3 percent pursuing this route compared to a figure of 26.6 percent for the total pupil population.

Those who have been looked after in the past year were also less likely to successfully find employment after leaving school. A total of 13 percent of care experienced school leavers in 2023 were recorded as unemployed three months later, whereas the figure for all leavers was just 3.8 percent.

Some of these differences may be partly explained by the fact that care experienced young people are much more likely to leave school in S4 or earlier: this was the case for 34.4 percent of those looked after in the past year, but the figure for the total pupil population is 14.4 percent.

Another key area of the education data for care-experienced young people concerns the rates of exclusion from school across Scotland.

Overall exclusion rates across the country have fallen sharply over the past decade, and the same is true for exclusion of care-experienced pupils. However, the figures for exclusion of pupils who have been looked after in the past year are still between five and six times as high as the levels found across the total pupil population.

Exclusion rates for looked after children in primary and secondary schools also increased between 2021 and 2023. This occurred despite the fact that exclusion of care-experienced young people was supposed to have been brought to an end.

Responding to the latest figures, Fiona Duncan, author of the Independent Care Review and adviser to the Scottish Government on The Promise, said:

“All children have a right to an education. It is unacceptable that so many children with experience of care are being denied that right.  Behind every one of these statistics lies the story of a child, young person and family, struggling to get the high-quality education they are entitled to.  

“In particular, it is worrying to see exclusion rates rise for the first time in 12 years. In 2020, Scotland promised that all formal and informal exclusions of care experienced pupils would end. These latest statistics show that Scotland is still very far away from achieving that.  

“There are schools in Scotland that have changed how they work over the last four years to better support their care community and are today keeping the promise. The education community has a lot to learn from these schools, and it is vital it does.”

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Louise Hunter, Chief Executive of Who Cares? Scotland, said:

"The latest education statistics for Care Experienced young people are concerning, particularly the rise in exclusion rates for the first time in 12 years. We have warned for a while about the slow progress on ending exclusion. It is disappointing to learn that children and young people with care experience are now almost six times more likely to be excluded, in spite of The Promise calling for this to end in 2020. Every child has the right to an education, and it is unacceptable that so many Care Experienced children are being deprived of this fundamental right.

"We know the difficulties that children face in school are not solely related to education. There is a critical need to delve deeper into the underlying factors behind these statistics. As a society, we need to help schools to better support their Care Experienced pupils by taking a whole-school approach, which includes; training for all staff within a school community, pupil-facing inputs and resources for parents/carers and the wider school community.

"We also know there's lots of positive practice happening, which was celebrated at the Corporate Parenting Awards 2024, there should be more work done to explore how everyone can make an impact for Care Experienced people."

A Scottish Government spokesperson said:

“The Scottish Government is resolute in our commitment to Keep the Promise and to ensure all care-experienced children and young people receive the vital support they need, to improve their life experiences and their educational outcomes.

 “Over £60 million has been provided to local authorities through the Care Experienced Children and Young People fund as part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge and we are working with Education Scotland and local government to improve the educational outcomes of care experienced children and young people.

 “The attainment gap between care experienced school leavers and all children has been narrowing at all levels since 2009/10, and we welcome the news that this gap has continued to narrow at the highest levels of achievement. While the gap has widened slightly for lower-level qualifications, it is still half the size it was in 2009/10, and narrower than it was pre-COVID.”