MORE pupils in Argyll and Bute are leaving school before sixth year, a report has revealed.
The total number of young people leaving the council’s 10 secondary schools has also increased by more than 20 per cent over five years, going from 702 in 2020 to 851 in 2025.
Nearly 30 per cent of pupils leaving at the end of the last full session did so as S5 pupils, with 58.1 per cent being S6. Those numbers were the highest and lowest recorded in each category over the six years covered in the report.
For the first time during those six years, the percentage of pupils leaving before S6 in Argyll and Bute was greater than the national number – 41.8 per cent against 41.4 per cent.
The document will go before the council’s community services committee at its meeting on Thursday, March 5. It does not contain a breakdown of how many pupils left each school.
Executive director Douglas Hendry said: “Analysis of leavers cohorts is useful as a snapshot to understand attainment and achievement of those who leave school in any given year.
“However, leavers cohort attainment statistics are also impacted by the constitution of the cohorts – that is, who makes up the cohort and specifically when they have left school.
“For example, if a leavers cohort has an increased proportion of S4 leavers compared to the previous year, then the percentage of pupils who have achieved a Level 6 award will likely reduce because the majority of S4 pupils do not present for a Level 6 award.
“This does not mean that Level 6 attainment has declined, but the proportion of pupils who could present for a Level 6 award will have reduced compared to previous cohorts. As such, the constitution of leavers cohorts should be considered alongside any attainment analysis.
“The percentage of S4 leavers as a proportion of all leavers increased from 7.5 per cent in 2020 to a high of 13.2 per cent in 2024. The S5 leaving percentage hit a 6 year high in 2025 – making up 29.9 per cent of the leavers cohort.
“Only 58 per cent of the 24/25 leavers cohort were pupils who had left after S6 – 7.3 percentage points down on the proportion of S6 leavers in 2020. This has a direct impact on how much time this leavers cohort had collectively to accrue tariff points and on attainment in literacy and numeracy.”
Mr Hendry added: “In Argyll and Bute, the proportion of leavers who left after S4 or S5 has increased from 34.6 per cent in 2019/20 to 41.8 per cent in 2024/25 – an increase of 7.3 percentage points. Nationally, 37.2 per cent of leavers were early leavers in 2019/20 – increasing to a peak of 42.9 per cent in 2023 and 2024.
“In 2025, Argyll and Bute had a higher early leaving rate than the national figure. This marked a strong swing against the previous session where early leavers made up 4.2 percentage points more of the leavers cohort nationally than in Argyll and Bute.”
