Scotland’s youth employment is at its highest since 2005 and a new Participation Measure for 16-19 year olds in Scotland has been developed to provide a more comprehensive and detailed understanding of the activities young people are taking part in.

For the first time, the Scottish Government will have detailed information on activity for 16 to 19 year olds rather than just school leavers, who only account for a quarter of the 16 to 19 year old population. The Participation Measure, published by Skills Development Scotland, improves the quality of information currently available and will help to more effectively focus resources and policies to help young people make a successful transition towards employment.

As at April 2015, the Participation Measure shows that the proportion of 16-19 year olds participating in education, training or employment is 87.6%. The highest participation rate is amongst 16 year olds at 95.6% with the vast majority being school pupils (82.5%). The lowest participation rate is amongst 19 year olds at 77.8%, although some of this difference will be due to some data being unavailable for 19 year olds. This should improve in future years with further development of the statistical information.

For more information please visit: The Scottish Government ‘Newsroom’