The proportion of Scotland’s poorest pupils in “positive destinations” within nine months of leaving school is at the joint highest level on record, figures show.
Statistics released by the Scottish Government show 89.7% of last year’s school leavers from the 20% most deprived areas were in education, training or work as of April this year.
That is a one percentage point increase from last year and matches the previous high seen in those who left at the end of the 2021-22 year.
While the gap between the richest and poorest has reduced, according to the figures, 7.6% more of the most affluent youngsters are ending up in positive destinations.
The starkest difference is in university places, where 65.1% of the richest pupils go on to study, compared to 26.1% of those from the least well-off areas – a 35.4 percentage point gap, up from 34.7 points the previous year.
In total, 93.5% of youngsters ended up in positive destinations, compared to 93.1% the year before and the joint highest figure – along with 2021-22.
Education Secretary Mairi McAllan said: “These figures illustrate that Scotland is amongst the best places for people to start their careers and pursue their life’s passion after finishing school.
“It’s fantastic to see record-high levels of young people going on to training, education, and employment when they leave school.
“This is testament to the hard work of those young people, teachers and staff that support them.
“Our commitment to free university tuition, generous student support and more apprenticeships means that young people, regardless of the path they choose, have a variety of great opportunities available to them.”