Outcomes for looked after children improved last year, report finds

Educational outcomes for looked after children improved in the most recent year’s data, but large gaps with pupils as a whole remain.

A Scottish Government report noted that school leaver attainment of at least SCQF level 4 was at 78.3% among looked after children for the year to July 2022 – up from 70.9% the previous year.

During the same period, 96.4% of all pupils leaving school received this level of qualification.

Looked after children are defined as those who are in the care of a local authority – including residential care, foster care or being looked after at home.

An estimated 1,068 young people who left school in 2021/22 had been looked after at some point between August 2021 and July 2022.

They represent 1.9% of all 55,237 school leavers in 2021/22.

The Scottish Government report noted there was a decline in looked after children who were in a “positive destination” after school – at 84.8% down from 86.0% the previous year.

Experimental statistics into the education of children who were looked after at certain points in their childhood were also released for the first time.

This allowed the journeys of care-experienced children to be tracked since 2008/09.

The report said: “In 2021/22, a higher proportion of leavers who experienced care since turning five achieved higher SCQF levels compared to school leavers who experienced care since turning 12, and school leavers looked after within the year.

“However, their attainment is still lower than that of all school leavers.”

Over the last 10 years, the proportion of looked after children attaining at least SCQF level 4 has risen.