The Scottish Government has recently published its Education Outcomes for Looked After Children in 2017/18. [1] In this blog we take a look at the figures and consider some of the policies being implemented to improve school attainment and access to further and higher education.

Overview  

• The average school leaving age is a major factor in the attainment gap between looked after children, who are around four times more likely to leave school in S4 or earlier, and their peers
• The proportion of children looked after for the full year achieving at least 1 qualification at SCQF Level 5 or better has decreased by 5% compared to 2016/17
• Children looked after for the full year with foster carers provided by the local authority have the highest level of attainment amongst different care settings
• Exclusion rates are collected every two years and as such do not feature in the latest statistics, but must still be considered within the context of educational attainment
• 94% of all school leavers enter a positive initial destination (3 months after leaving school), compared to 83% and 74% of those looked after for the full year and part of the year respectively
• £33million of funding was announced last year by The Scottish Government, supporting local authorities to improve school attainment of care-experienced children and young people
• There was an increase of 34% (in just three years) in the number of mentored care-experienced young people in Glasgow going on to college, university or a job through MCR Pathways’ relationship-based mentoring programme
• Care-experienced young people up to the age of 26 can apply for a bursary of £8100 per academic year to support them while studying in further and higher education, introduced as a result of findings from the Commission for Widening Access and, latterly, The Independent Review of Student Support in Scotland

What do the figures tell us?

A significant attainment gap remains between care-experienced young people and their peers – with the average leaver age a major factor
The proportion of school leavers with no passes at SCQF 3 is far higher amongst looked after children – 14% of those looked after for the full year and almost a fifth (18%) of those looked after for part of the year, compared to just 2% of all school leavers.

Almost all school leavers (96%) have at least one qualification at SCQF Level 4 or better. This compares to just over three quarters (76%) of leavers looked after for the full year and two thirds (67%) looked after for part of the year.

The attainment gap further widens as qualification levels increase: 62% of all leavers have at least one qualification at SCQF Level 6 or better, while just 16% of leavers who were looked after for the full year and 8% who were looked after for part of the year had qualifications at this level; just 1% of those looked after for both the full and part of the year attained an SCQF Level 7, compared to a fifth (20%) of all school leavers.

A significant contributing factor to the increased attainment gap in the higher levels of SCQF qualifications is that looked after children are around four times more likely to leave school in S4 or earlier than their peers.

There has been limited progress (and in some cases a decline in attainment) compared to 2016/17
This year’s education outcomes show a decline in some attainment levels for those looked after for the full year compared to 2016/17. The percentage of those achieving 1 or more qualification at SCQF 5 or better decreased by 5%, and there was a drop of 4% for those achieving 1 or more qualification at SCQF level 6 or better.



For leavers looked after for part of the year the picture is mixed. There is an increase in those achieving 1 or more qualification at SCQF Levels 4, 5, 6 or better – including a significant 7% positive jump in looked after leavers achieving at least 1 SCQF Level 5 qualification or better. However, there is also an increase of 3% of those leaving school with no passes at SCQF Level 3 or better compared to 16/17.

Attainment still varies greatly by care setting – with those in foster care having the highest levels of attainment
Children looked after for the full year with foster carers provided by the local authority have the highest attainment rate. The percentage of looked after children in this care setting achieving 1 or more qualification at SCQF Levels 3 and 4 is on par with the attainment of all school leavers – 98% and 96% respectively. However, as with overall attainment levels, there are significant gaps in attainment between children in this care setting and school leavers as a whole when considering the higher levels of qualification (SCQF Levels 5-7).

For those looked after for both the full and part of the year, attainment is shown to be lower for children looked after at home compared with most other care settings, with around a quarter (27% and 25% respectively) leaving school with no passes as SCQF Level 3 or better.

Exclusions data is only gathered every two years, but is still crucial context
While data on exclusions is only gathered every two years, the previous year’s outcomes show that the rate of exclusions among looked after children is much higher than in the general school population (169 cases per 1,000 pupils looked after for the full year, compared with 27 per 1,000 in the general school population).

The fall in the rates of exclusions for looked after children is much greater than the fall in rates of exclusions for all pupils.[2] However, that there still remains such a stark gap in exclusions between looked after children and their peers demonstrates that there is a great amount of work required to embed trauma-informed and trauma-responsive practice in schools, with a focus on a more restorative approach. With a wide-ranging public conversation taking place in Scotland around the impacts of trauma, it is anticipated that the gap will continue to close.

‘Positive destinations’ statistics show that children in and leaving care face additional barriers to their peers – yet do not provide the full picture
94% of all school leavers enter a positive initial destination (3 months after leaving school), compared to 83% of those looked after for the full year, and 74% of those looked after for part of the year.



Positive destinations are also more likely to be sustained by school leavers generally than their looked after peers – with just 76% (down from 83%) of those looked after for the full year, and 69% (down from 74%) of children looked after for part of the year remaining in these destinations after 9 months compared to 93% (down from 94%) of all school leavers.

These outcomes demonstrate that significant additional barriers exist for those in and leaving care, but do not necessarily capture the full extent of the challenges faced. For example, ‘Employment’ as a broad category does not provide insight into levels of pay, working conditions, or contracted hours: 470,000 people in Scotland don't earn the real Living Wage[3]; those in training apprenticeships may be paid as little as £3.90 an hour[4]; and many are in precarious employment.[5]

Further, both voluntary work and ‘activity agreements’[6] are classified as ‘positive destinations’ despite providing no income (and may more accurately be deemed as routes towards a positive destination rather than an end in itself). The reality is that many of those in ‘positive destinations’ may still be living poverty – and this must change.

What is being done to improve the educational attainment of care-experienced young people?

£33million of funding was announced last year to improve the attainment of care-experienced children and young people
Launched in 2015, The Scottish Attainment Challenge is focused on improvement activity in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing in specific areas of Scotland and closing the poverty related attainment gap. The £750 million Attainment Scotland fund is a targeted initiative focused on supporting young people affected by poverty and deprivation.[7]

In 2018, an additional investment of around £33million to support the needs of care experienced children and young people was announced.[8] The Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund is designed to enable local authorities, as corporate parents, to make strategic decisions around how best to improve the attainment of care experienced children and young people from birth to the age of 26, in line with the 2014 Act.[9][10]

MCR Pathways and relationship-based practice
MCR Pathways is a charity which seeks to address the outcome gap between care-experienced young people and their peers through a relationship-centred mentoring programme in schools. As of 2017/18, the MCR model had been rolled out in every secondary school across Glasgow, with a national expansion programme underway to introduce the model in other local authorities across Scotland.[11] The Scottish Funding Council encourages college engagement with MCR Pathways in their Outcome Agreement guidance.[12]

The MCR Pathways and Glasgow City Council Impact Report 2018 highlights that the number of mentored care-experienced young people going on to college, university or a job has increased from 52% in 2014 to 86% in 2017.[13][14] The success of the mentoring programme highlights the vital role of relationships in improving outcomes for young people in and leaving care. In the context of the most recent education outcomes, it is important to note that data for Glasgow City Council was not provided for 17/18 and that data from 16/17 data was used for this authority instead.

As the mentoring programme continues to expand, with more young people across Scotland being supported to gain confidence, access resources, and build supportive relationships while in schools, we may see significant improvements in national attainment levels over the next few years.[15]

The importance of relationships is reflected within further and higher education settings also. CELCIS’ recent report (commissioned by The Scottish Funding Council) on care-experienced young people’s experiences of further and higher education states that having reliable, consistent relationships with a trusted member of staff is very important to care experienced students and that holistic, relational based support can be equally as important as practical support.[16]

Commission for Widening Access
The Commission on Widening Access was established to advise The Scottish Government on securing equal access to University for every young person in Scotland upon leaving school, as outlined in the 2014-15 Programme for Government.[17]

The Commission’s final report was published in March 2016 and contained recommendations to support care-experienced young people, including: the introduction of a non-repayable bursary and a more flexible package of student support; entitlement to university places for all CEYP that meet the access thresholds, including those who have taken a break from higher education; and for The Scottish Government to develop an approach to allow those with care experience to be identified from early to post-school and on to employment as a means of enabling additional support to be provided.[18]

Independent Review on Student Financial Support in Scotland
The independent review on the student support system for both further and higher education in Scotland was conducted in 2017. The review’s recommendations include: a minimum student income of £8100 per year for both higher and further education students; an increase of the repayment threshold for student loans; and access to the student minimum income of £8100 in the form of a full non-repayable bursary for both further and higher education care-experienced students.[19] The review has faced some criticism for failing to adequately address support for part-time students.[20]

Care Experienced Bursary
The Care Experienced Bursary was introduced following recommendations from the Commission for Widening Access, and is available to care-experienced students up to the age of 26 in both further and higher education. Care-experienced students are now eligible for £8,100 per year as a non-repayable grant. The level of £8,100 for both FE and HE students signals an increase in support that aligns with the minimum student income and principles of parity as recommended in the independent review of student financial support in Scotland.[21]

The Care Experienced Bursary has proved to have difficulties for local service delivery, with variations in practice regarding the bursary’s interaction with support payments from local authorities. In response to these issues, The Scottish Government has worked with COSLA and CELCIS to produce a new policy note on the bursary.[22] The CEB was a key point of discussion at our inaugural Local Authority Managers’ Forum, and we will continue to call for more direct practitioner involvement to ensure consistent practice and both clarity and support for the workforce.

While the bursary is in some cases reported or claimed to be tied to the living wage – or even the real living wage – this is not strictly the case. The level of £8100 is based on the Scottish Government’s 2016-17 Living Wage (as of 26 October 2017) of £8.45 per hour and calculated on the basis of just 25 hours of a study a week with support over 38 weeks. [23] Calculating the level of the bursary based on the current real Living Wage of £9.00 an hour (and based on the same number of hours and weeks as decided by the review, which are themselves contentious) the level of bursary should be increased to at least £8550 per year.  

Given the additional barriers faced by care-experienced young people in accessing higher education particularly, with the recent education outcomes showing that only 4-5% of looked after children progress directly from school to HE, the age cap of 26 for the bursary proves problematic. This is an issue conveyed strongly by a university student in CELCIS’ findings following a Scotland-wide survey of care-experienced FE and HE students: ‘it’s been very beneficial for me but find it frustrating that 26 is the cut off age. It’s far too young. People who have been in care generally have issues and to expect these to have been resolved by 26 is madness’.[24]

Conclusion

The most recent Education Outcomes demonstrate clearly that the attainment gap between care-experienced young people and their peers remains significant. However, there have been a number of positive initiatives designed to improve school attainment and access to FE and HE learning for care-experienced children and young people in recent years.

We should proceed with caution when discussing positive destinations data and ensure that we look at the bigger picture. We must aspire to provide secure, supportive, and well-paid employment opportunities for all care-experienced young people leaving education – at whichever level they exit.  

It is hoped that the continued development and expansion of both relationship-based and trauma-informed practices nationally will lead to improved outcomes moving forward. As many initiatives designed to boost attainment and access are still in relatively early stages, the Education Outcomes statistics over the next two years in particular will be crucial to assess impact.

You can read the Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2017/18 here.

References 

[1] Scottish Government (2019) Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2017-2018

[2] Scottish Government (2018) Education Outcomes for looked after children: 2016-17

[3] Living Wage Scotland https://scottishlivingwage.org/

[4] HM Government National Minimum Wage Rates 

[5] Trades Union Congress 1 in 9 workers are in insecure jobs, says TUC

[6] mygov.scot Activity Agreements

[7] Scottish Government Pupil Attainment: Closing the gap

[8] Scottish Government (2018) Improving attainment for looked after children

[9] Scottish Government (2018) Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund: national operational guidance

[10] Scottish Government (2014) Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

[11] MCR Pathways & Glasgow City Council (2018) Impact Report 2018: Helping young people to realise their potential through education

[12] Scottish Funding Council Outcome Agreements Guidance 

[13] MCR Pathways & Glasgow City Council (2018) Impact Report 2018: Helping young people to realise their potential through education

[14] MCR Pathways (2018) Improving Attainment of Looked After Children

[15] Iain MacRitchie (2019) MCR Pathways’ relationship based practice at scale: Revolutionising educational outcomes for care-experienced young people

[16] CELCIS (2019) ‘Being a student with care experience is very daunting’ Findings from a survey of care experienced students in Scottish colleges and universities

[17] Scottish Government (2014) One Scotland – Programme for Government 2014-15

[18] Scottish Government (2016) A Blueprint for Fairness: The final report of the Commission on Widening Access

[19] Scottish Government (2017) Student financial support in Scotland: independent review

[20] Susan Stewart (2017) Supporting part-time students in Scotland

[21] Scottish Government (2017) Student financial support in Scotland: independent review

[22] CELCIS (2019) Guidance for Local Authorities on Care Experienced Bursary

[23] Scottish Government (2017) Student financial support in Scotland: independent review

[24] CELCIS (2019) ‘Being a student with care experience is very daunting’ Findings from a survey of care experienced students in Scottish colleges and universities