Cut Scotland's school leaving age to 14 or 15 to help 'trapped' youngsters, says Tory leader

‘Bold’ new proposal branded ‘Dickensian’ by SNP education secretary

Cutting the minimum school leaving age to 14 or 15 in Scotland would boost the economy and transform the opportunities available for young people who are being left behind, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives has claimed.

Russell Findlay will announce the party’s “bold” new proposal at a speech in Edinburgh on Wednesday, saying it could give students a “fast track” to an apprenticeship or college place. However, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has branded the proposal a “Dickensian policy”.

The minimum school leaving age in Scotland has been 16-years-old since 1972.

In most OECD countries, school is compulsory until 16 or 17, although the leaving age is 15 in Greece, Switzerland, Austria, and Czechia, and it is 14 in Croatia and India.

Under proposals to be set out by Mr Findlay, pupils aged 14 or 15 could leave school, although they would have to remain in education. He says it is an idea that could “transform opportunities for those young people who are being left behind”.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay | Lisa Ferguson

In his speech, he will say: “Too many young people become trapped in a system that isn’t working for them. Even worse, far too many exit from it altogether.

“This is not about writing off these young people. It is the very opposite of that. It is about guiding each individual onto the path best suited to their aspirations.

“It is about giving young people an opportunity to continue in a form of hybrid education that is better suited to their talents.

“Upon leaving school at 15, maybe even 14, they would still be required to stay in education. But it would be a form of education that works for them - a fast track to opportunity, whether college or an apprenticeship.

“By developing our proposal hand in hand with businesses, we could make Scotland’s economy fit for the future.”

Lindsay Paterson, professor emeritus of education policy at the University of Edinburgh, said on the whole there was agreement in research that raising the school leaving age increased attainment, especially for the students who were lowest-attaining.

Prof Paterson said: “I would say that the Conservatives' idea, though well-intentioned and understandable, is only half thought-through.

“It is indeed important to provide a better curriculum than is currently offered to those students who are never likely to be on a purely academic track. But moving people out of school at a young age can cut off options, in two respects.

“One is that the late developer might find it difficult to return to a mainly academic curriculum. The other is that whatever alternative option these people go to would have to continue to offer a grounding in knowledge, not just a training in skills.”

The academic added: “So, at worst, the Conservatives' proposals could consign thousands of young people to dead-end training schemes that had little general education to underpin them and that led to the least secure and worst-paid parts of the labour market.

“Inevitably, the students who would be most affected by this would be disproportionately those from the most socially disadvantaged families.

“A better approach would be to build on the quite successful Foundation Apprenticeships that are designed to allow students to combine vocational study with staying on in education.”

Ms Gilruth said: “The Tories should say what they mean – they want to see working-class children leave school at 14 and leave academic pursuits to the middle and upper class. That is not an approach this Government will agree with.”

The education secretary added: “The last time the school leaving age was changed to 14 was over a century ago. Tory values may be rooted in the Victorian era – but we will not allow them to drag our education system into a bygone age with this Dickensian policy.”