More young Scots in education, training or work

The 2017 Annual Participation Measure for 16-19 year olds, published today by Skills Development Scotland, showed an increased of 0.7 percentage points over the last year to 91.1 per cent.

The highest participation rate is amongst 16 year olds, with the vast majority - 91.5 per cent - at school.

The proportion of people not currently participating in education, training or employment decreased by 0.3 percentage points over the same period.

Jamie Hepburn, Minister for Employability and Training said: “I welcome these figures which show proportionately more young people between the ages of 16 to 19 in Scotland are involved in education, training or employment.

“I am particularly pleased to note the increases in 23 local areas which showed an increase in participation.

“Going forward, we want to ensure that all of Scotland’s young people have access to the best possible opportunities and we are committed to continuing to work with local authorities to minimise the number of young people not participating in education, training or work.

“We are delivering 30,000 Modern Apprenticeships per year by 2020, while expanding towards 5000 Foundation Apprenticeships per year.

“We have invested £5 billion in higher education over the last five years. We are committed to building a skilled and educated workforce and reducing youth unemployment by 40 per cent by 2021.”