The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S7W-01784

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of people aged (i) under 19 and (ii) 19 to 24 in further education did not complete their course in each year since 2017-18, and what information it holds regarding the reasons for this.

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) collects and publishes information on withdrawal rates and reasons for withdrawal for further (FE) and higher (HE) education students at college in their annual ‘College Student Outcomes’ release. https://www.sfc.ac.uk/publications/college-student-outcomes-2024-25/

Information is published by age band, for courses lasting 160 hours or more, but this is not split by HE or FE nor by the age bands requested. The release also contains some information on reason for withdrawal.

Question reference: S7W-01783

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many schools use the Gatsby Benchmarks to assess their careers guidance provision, and what the average benchmark score achieved is.

The Gatsby Benchmarks are a careers guidance framework used in England.

Careers support is devolved and the Gatsby Benchmarks do not form part of Scotland’s approach. While individual schools may choose to use the framework if they consider it useful, the Scottish Government does not collect or hold information on its use. Information on the number of schools using the Gatsby Benchmarks, or on any benchmark scores achieved, is therefore not held centrally.

Question reference: S7W-01782

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what tools are used by schools to identify pupils at risk of having the status of not being in employment, education or training (NEET).

Each school works with partners, including the school-based Skills Development Scotland (SDS) career adviser(s), to identify the pupils who are most at risk of not transitioning to a positive destination post-school such as further / higher education, training or employment. Factors that are taken into consideration include, but are not limited to, whether the young person is care-experienced; has caring responsibilities; has any health issues or disabilities; has additional support needs; or has interrupted learning. The school and partners then discuss and agree the appropriate support for each individual.

SDS are responsible for managing the 16+ Participation Portal, a secure online portal which tracks the status of young people aged 16-24. By sharing information between partners, including local authorities, colleges, the Scottish Funding Council, the Student Awards Agency for Scotland and the Department for Work and Pensions, SDS can identify those young people not in a positive destination and will proactively make contact with them to offer support.

Question reference: S7W-01787

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of (i) 16- to 18-, (ii) 19- to 21- and (iii) 22- to 24-year-olds have not completed their apprenticeship in each year since 2018.

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) collects and publishes Modern Apprenticeship (MA) data with the latest full year data covering 2025-26.

https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/josfrdus/modern-apprenticeship-supplementary-tables-quarter-4-2025-26.xlsx

Information on MA achievements and number of leavers is published by age band and year, but the age bands used by SDS are 16-19 and 20-24 and 25+.

Question reference: S7W-01786

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) 16- to 18-, (b) 19- to 21- and (c) 22- to 24-year-olds started apprenticeships in each year since 2018,

Question reference: S7W-01780

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 18 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of secondary school pupils eligible for free school meals has been recorded as being persistently absent from school in each year since 2017-18, and what analysis it has commissioned or carried out on the impact that this might have on the likelihood of them subsequently having the status of being classified as not being in employment, education or training (NEET) aged 16 to 24.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on pupil’s eligibility for free school meals (FSM). However, data on pupils eligible for, and in receipt of, free school meals are held.

The following table sets out the percentage of secondary school pupils each year where data was available who were persistently absent, by their free school meal registration status.

Table 1. Percentage of secondary school pupils persistently absent by free school meal registration, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.

FSM Registration	2018-19	2020-21	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25
Not Registered	26.4	21.5	35.9	35.2	31.9
Registered	53.8	47.9	64	64	61.4

Prior to 2022-23, absence data was only published every 2 years.

These statistics exclude pupils whose attendance records could not be matched to a pupil census record.

Pupils who are eligible but not registered for free school meals will be included in the not registered figures.

The Scottish government is clear that attendance is linked in many ways to attainment and thus to achieving positive outcomes. We welcome recent statistics that demonstrate 95.7% of young people are in a positive destination 3 months after leaving school and that the poverty related attainment gap has narrowed by almost two thirds for initial destinations in the last 15 years.

Question reference: S7W-02350

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a timescale for the Scottish Land Court taking on jurisdiction for outdoor access cases under sections 14 and 28 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, as provided for in the Crofting and Scottish Land Court Act 2026.

Question reference: S7W-01789

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of young people in receipt of Child Disability Payment transferred to Adult Disability Payment after they turned 16, in each of the last five years.

Social Security Scotland publishes information on applications to Adult Disability Payment from people in receipt of, or who have previously received, Child Disability Payment as part of its annual Adult Disability Payment June statistical publication.

The number of young people in receipt of Child Disability Payment who were awarded Adult Disability Payment in each of the last five years is set out in the published Child Disability Payment to Adult Disability Payment table A1.

Young people can apply for Adult Disability Payment between the ages of 16 and 18 and remain entitled to Child Disability Payment until a determination is made on their application. However, the published statistics do not provide a breakdown showing how many Child Disability Payment recipients transferred to Adult Disability Payment after turning 16.

Question reference: S7W-01779

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of disabled 16- to 24-year-olds in each year since 2010-11 were classified as not being in employment, education or training (NEET).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS) is the main source for Labour Market Indicators for detailed characteristics. The ONS state there are concerns with the quality of the APS estimates for smaller groups of the population. Therefore, it is not possible to produce robust estimates of the number of people aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training who also report having a disability from this source.

Scotland’s Census 2022 results show that, excluding full-time students, there were around 23,600 people aged 16 to 24 in Scotland who were unemployed or economically inactive and had a disability or health problem that limited their day-to-day activities a lot or a little. This was 28% of all disabled 16 to 24 year olds.

The Annual Participation Measure is published by Skills Development Scotland. This publication began in 2016 and covers those aged 16 to 19 years old. The proportion of disabled people aged 16 to 19 who were not participating in education, employment or training is included in Table 1.4a: https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/appbneac/2025-annual-participation-measure-supplementary-tables.xlsx.

Question reference: S7W-01776

Asked by: Jenny Young, MSP for Central Scot and Lothians West, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) also report as having a work-limiting health condition.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS) is the main source for Labour Market Indicators for more detailed characteristics. The ONS state there are concerns with the quality of the APS estimates for smaller groups of the population. Therefore, it is not possible to produce robust estimates of the number of people aged 16 to 24 who are not in education, employment or training who also report having a work-limiting health condition from this source.

Scotland’s Census 2022 results show that, excluding full-time students, there were around 23,600 people aged 16 to 24 in Scotland who were unemployed or economically inactive and had a disability or health problem that limited their day-to-day activities a lot or a little.

The Annual Participation Measure published by Skills Development Scotland provides estimates for 16 to 19 year olds not participating in education, employment or training by disability status. In 2025, the SDS Annual Participation Measure estimates that 8,910 people aged 16 to 19 years old in Scotland were not participating in education, employment, or training (3.9% of 16 to 19 year olds). Of those who were not participating in education, employment or training, 11.1% (985 people) were identified as being disabled.

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