Falkirk in Scotland’s top five for school leaver success
Almost all Falkirk school leavers are moving on to work, education or training, with the area recording its strongest positive destinations results in six years.
The Senior Phase Leavers’ Outcomes report, to be presented to a meeting of the Scrutiny Committee on 9 June, shows that 97.51% of young people leaving Falkirk secondary schools went on to a positive destination in 2025.
Falkirk has the fifth highest percentage of leavers entering positive destinations across Scotland’s 32 local authorities, with outcomes recorded for 1,689 leavers.
Positive destinations include employment, further or higher education, training, volunteering, and skills development.
Positive destination stats
More than a third of leavers, 38.37%, progressed to higher education. A further 24.22% entered further education, while the same proportion moved straight into employment (24.22%). 6.04% went into training.
The report also highlights strong attainment, with Falkirk performing above the national average and all other comparators, in literacy and numeracy across the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) levels 3 to 6.
83.60% of leavers achieved literacy measured at Level 5 and 79.75% achieved numeracy at the same level, both ahead of national averages and all other comparators.
At Level 6, 72.41% of leavers gained at least one qualification, 4.12% points above the national figure, and Falkirk’s highest result for this measure in five years.
The report highlights that these results reflect sustained and consistent improvement across Falkirk schools, while also identifying areas where further targeted effort could drive continued upward trends in performance.
This included how higher-attaining pupils are achieving across a broader range of their best subjects. This is measured using complementary tariff scores, which look at a learner’s strongest set of qualifications. Continuing to improve performance in this area remains a key focus according to the report.
Jon Reid, Director of Education, said:
These are our strongest positive destination figures in recent years and reflect the continued strength of outcomes for young people across Falkirk. We are performing above national averages across a wide range of key measures, with a consistently strong profile compared to all comparators.
“We are very proud of our young people and of our schools, whose commitment and support enable such high levels of achievement. These figures show clearly that increasing numbers of young people in Falkirk are leaving school well prepared and moving on to positive and sustained destinations.
“This is underpinned by strong performance in literacy, numeracy and wider attainment, demonstrating the impact of consistent improvement work across our schools.
“While we will continue to focus on areas where further progress can be made, including ensuring all young people achieve their full potential, we are confident in the strength of our current position. We will build on this momentum through continued collaboration with schools and partners, ensuring every young person is supported to take the next step successfully.