South Lanarkshire school leavers are exceeding national and local benchmarks.

New data has revealed that young people leaving school across the region are stronger in comparison to their peers in the West Partnership of nearby local authorities as well as nationally.

The data, which has been released by the Scottish Government for the session 2022/23 relates to four national benchmarks which highlight the performance of pupils at the point of exit from school.

The four national benchmarking levels are attainment in literacy and numeracy, attainment for all, and attainment vs deprivation with an emphasis on closing the gap and post-school participation. 

Across South Lanarkshire, young people who left school in 2022/23 achieved literacy levels which were better than those achieved nationally and in the West Partnership.

At all levels, attainment in literacy has improved since 2019.

Young people who left school in 2022/23 also achieved numeracy levels which were better than those achieved nationally and were in line with the West Partnership.

At levels three and four, attainment in numeracy has improved since 2019 and at levels five and six, attainment in numeracy remains in line with the 2019 levels and remains higher than the virtual comparator. 

The overall attainment of the middle 60 per cent of school leavers in South Lanarkshire is in line with the West Partnership and virtual comparators.

It is also above the national level and is higher than in 2019.

The overall attainment of the upper 20 per cent of leavers is also in line with the West Partnership and national levels and it is also higher than in 2019.

The data also shows that some measures in the attainment gap remain high, and there is evidence of more young people from less affluent backgrounds leaving school earlier.

Their attainment levels are generally improving but are not increasing at the same rate as their peers.

Both the staying-on rate and the attainment of young people from deprived backgrounds are a focus for schools in the upcoming session.

Leavers’ destinations and post-school participation is still a key strength for South Lanarkshire school and support services, and positive destination rates continue to improve and remain above all comparator measures.

The West Partnership - which South Lanarkshire education data is being compared to - is a collaboration of eight local authorities across the West of Scotland, including East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire.