School leavers from poor backgrounds in Scotland are only half as likely to go into higher education (HE) as their more affluent peers, government statistics published today have revealed.

The figures follow a war of words between the Scottish government and prime minister Theresa May about the number of disadvantaged school pupils in Scotland who go on to attend university.

The statistics show that, although the number of school leavers from deprived backgrounds has risen slightly in recent years - to what the government says is a record high - between 2012 to 2017 the gap between rich and poor students has only marginally narrowed.

Of the 20 per cent most-deprived 2017 school leavers, 24.9 per cent were in HE by October, compared with 60.6 per cent of the least-deprived leavers.

That gap has fallen slightly to 35.7 percentage points, from 38.2 in 2012 - when 20.4 per cent of the most deprived leavers went into HE, and 58.6 per cent of the least-deprived leavers.

‘Slipping’ standards

On Sunday, in an interview with the Mail on Sunday, prime minister Theresa May attacked the SNP government over “slipping” standards in Scottish education and said: “Sadly, whereas in England we have seen more disadvantaged students going to university, in Scotland we are seeing fewer.”

However, a spokesman for education secretary John Swinney said Mrs May was “resorting to claims that are demonstrably untrue”. He added: “Not only are there record numbers of Scots going to university, there are record numbers from the poorest background getting a place.”

Today’s figures - based on data for 51,258 senior-phase school leavers from local authority and grant-aided secondaries - also show large geographical variations in the number of pupils who enter HE by the October after leaving school, from East Renfrewshire (65 per cent) and East Dunbartonshire (64 per cent) to Midlothian (31 per cent) and Clackmannanshire (28 per cent).

The Scottish government said that the 93.7 per cent of 2016-17 leavers in “positive destinations” - including HE, further education, training, voluntary work, employment and “activity agreements” - was up from 90.1 per cent in 2011-12; for the most-deprived leavers in the same period, the rise is from 83.9 per cent to 89.6 per cent.

However, critics say that “positive destinations” is too broad a term to be meaningful, and in 2017 Tes Scotland revealed that it could include zero-hours contracts.

Overall, 40.7 per cent of 2016-17 leavers entered HE, up from 37.8 per cent in 2011-12, while the proportion in FE (26.8 per cent) is almost exactly the same as in 2011-12.

Continuing studies

Further and higher education minister Shirley-Anne Somerville, said: “Today’s statistics show a record proportion of leavers in an initial positive destination and, in particular, a welcome increase to another record in those leavers from the most deprived backgrounds going on to a positive destination.

“And on the day we confirm the allocation of £1.8 billion of public funding to universities and colleges next year, I am also encouraged to see an increasing proportion of school leavers choosing to continue their studies in further and higher education.”

It was reported in February that data from university admissions body Ucas showed application rates from 18-year-olds from the poorest parts of Scotland dropping for the first time in a decade.

However, Ucas stressed that it could not provide a full picture for Scotland because it only processes two-thirds of admissions north of the border.

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