Increase in pupils choosing jobs over university

Published on Wednesday 12 December 2007 00:37

INCREASING numbers of pupils are going straight into jobs after leaving school, rather than going to university.

Government figures also reveal a gender gap, with girls more likely to go to college or university than boys, who tend to enter training, work, or become unemployed.

The number of school-leavers going into jobs increased from 26.2 per cent in 2005-6 to 28.3 per cent in 2006-7. The numbers entering full-time university dropped slightly from 30.5 per cent to 29.7 per cent.

Last night, a spokeswoman for the Scottish Government admitted more needed to be done to tackle the number of "neets" (those not in education, employment or training).

Liz Smith, the schools spokeswoman for the Conservatives, called for better vocational education. She said: "Our focus must be on the 13 per cent who are excluded from opportunities."

The Scottish Government spokeswoman said the figures showed the situation was improving: "More young people are going on to productive futures. It is clearly good news that more are in employment.

"It is not really possible to say if the rise in those going into work and the very small decrease in those going further in education are linked. We are removing barriers by scrapping the graduate endowment and also improving support available to part-time students."

Regarding the gender difference, she said: "It is difficult to attribute to any one factor."