13-05-2025
Falkirk schools' have highest number of leavers going to 'positive destination'
Councillors praised a "wonderful report" that showed 96.25 per cent of pupils found jobs or stayed in education
Falkirk schools reported the highest numbers of pupils leaving for a 'positive destination' in five years.
Provost Robert Bissett praised the passion and commitment of teachers, as members of Falkirk Council 's Scrutiny Committee heard that 96.25 per cent of the 1,760 pupils who left school in 2024 went on to further or higher education or into work.
The 2024 Leavers' Attainment Outcomes Report was presented to councillors by Jill Pringle, Falkirk Council's head of education, who told members that the report presented "a continuing strong picture for Falkirk 's young people".
"We are very proud of our young people when they leave our schools and we are very proud of the hard work that everybody puts in to ensuring that these outcomes are incredibly strong and continue to be so," she said.
The report comes from information that is published nationally and provides a wider picture of our education system than the annual exam results, published in September.
Ms Pringle said schools are beginning to look beyond the traditional exams and find wider opportunities for pupils, such as HNCs or Foundation Apprenticeships, which can be just as valuable.
The published data compares the local authority against Scotland as a whole as well as neighbouring authorities.
But Ms Pringle told members that the most useful - and fairest - comparison tool was the Virtual Comparator which uses data to compare pupils from similar backgrounds across the country.
While the results for each school are not made public, members heard that all of the data is increasingly used internally by headteachers and their staff to find areas in schools that can be targeted for improvement.
"Schools can look at their own data and understand their own picture," said Ms Pringle.
"Our schools are very good at that - they are data literate and becoming increasingly more so, so that's why you are starting to see that real improvement."
Director of Education Jon Reid agreed that one of the reasons for Falkirk seeing improved attainment is a previous council decision to provide an iPad for every pupil from Primary 5 upwards.
The results - along with several inspection reports that have praised digital learning in individual schools - showed "the investment is working", he said.
Benefits for pupils include having access to high quality feedback and a broader curriculum, while it also makes it much easier for pupils who are absent through illness to catch up.
"It provides equity, it's an essential tool for learning and teaching and I'm not sure what our classrooms would look like if that wasn't there," said Mr Reid.
Councillor Iain Sinclair, education portfolio holder, said: "This is a result of the focus and hard work of everybody involved which has led to these positive statistics and a five-year high in positive destinations of 96.25 per cent."
"I'd like to pay tribute to our phenomenal young people who continue to achieve in what can be very challenging circumstances, also to our central team for the support they provide and our dedicated secondary teams and in particular our headteachers for their relentless focus on achieving the best outcomes for our young people."
The committee convener, Provost Robert Bissett said: "It's a wonderful report and all credit to everyone involved in education.
"That continuous dedication to improve the lives of our pupils is phenomenal.
"Every teacher you speak to, you can feel their dedication and passion because education does change lives.
"Thank you from everybody here to everybody in education - well done and lets keep it going!"
