Annual Participation Measure 2024-25
Argyll and Bute Council · 11 December 2025
Back to Community Services Committee — 11 December 2025 and its agenda
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE EDUCATION 11 DECEMBER 2025 ANNUAL PARTICIPATION MEASURE 2024-25 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide members with information on the most recent Annual Participation Measure published by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) in August 2025, covering the period April 2024-March 2025. 1.2 The Annual Participation Measure (APM) reports nationally on the economic and employment activity of the 16-19 year old cohort in Argyll and Bute, including those at school. The measure is used to inform policy, planning and service delivery and to determine the impact of the Opportunities for All commitment. 1.3 The APM was incorporated into the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework from August 2017 as the data source for the indicator, “increase the proportion of young people in learning, training or work”, replacing the School Leaver Destination Reports. 1.4 The previous measure, School Leaver Destination Reports, collected data on young people in the senior phase of school (S4-S6) who had left school during the school year and essentially offered a snapshot at the time of reporting (October and February). The APM takes account of the status of all 16–19-year- olds in Scotland over a full calendar year (1st April – 31st March) and assigns to each young person the status which applied to them for the greatest part of the year in question.
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE EDUCATION 11 DECEMBER 2025 ANNUAL PARTICIPATION MEASURE 2024-25 2.0 INTRODUCTION 2.1 The Annual Participation Measure (APM) is published in August each year and is used to inform policy, planning and service delivery, and to assess progress in the delivery of the Scottish Government’s commitment to offer a place in learning or training to every 16 to 19 year-old in Scotland not already in employment, education or training. 2.2 The 2025 APM marks the 11th annual release of statistics detailing the participation of 16–19-year-olds at a national and local authority level. The report takes account of the status for 16–19-year-olds from 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025. 2.3 The statistics are produced using data collected by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and a range of partners, which is shared through the 16+ Participation Portal. 2.4 The report is based on a cohort of 228,163 young people in Scotland aged between 16 and 19 (an increase of 6038 on 2023-2024), of whom 3,187 are from Argyll and Bute (an increase of 84 on 2023-24). 3.0 RECOMMENDATIONS It is recommended that the Community Services Committee: 3.1 Consider the information in relation to the 2024-2025 Annual Participation Measure. 3.2 Note the increase in Participation in Argyll and Bute from 2023-24 to 2024-25, and the narrowing of the poverty-related attainment gap in Participation during the same period. 3.3 Note the consistently strong performance of Argyll and Bute as a council area in facilitating the participation of 16-19 year-olds.
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4.0 DETAIL 4.1 The APM is compiled from data collected from the 16+ Participation Portal, a multi-partner secure data sharing gateway managed by Skills Development Scotland (SDS). Data input is provided from Local Authorities, Colleges, the Department of Work and Pensions, the Students Awards Agency Scotland and the Scottish Funding Council. 4.2 The participation status of each young person is identified by combining the number of days spent in each status (participating, not participating or unknown) between 1st April 2023 and 31st March 2024. Their overall headline classification is then defined as the heading under which they have spent the most days over that year. 4.3 The classifications are defined as: Participating – school pupil, higher education, further education, employment, modern/graduate apprenticeship, training and voluntary work. Not Participating – unemployed and seeking employment or training, unemployed and not seeking employment or training. Unconfirmed Status – information on individual not available for reporting. Some of these young people may be in employment but not in contact with partner agencies. 4.4 The 2025 APM headline figures confirm that 94.6% of 16–19-year-olds in Argyll and Bute (3,271 young people) were participating in education training or employment between April 2024 and March 2025, which represents an increase of 0.3% on 2024’s measure, and is 1.3% above the national participation figure of 93.3%. Of Scotland’s 32 local authorities, Argyll and Bute is placed tenth for participation levels. 2024-25 is the eighth year in succession Argyll and Bute Council has ranked in the top ten local authorities for participation. 3.7% of 16-19 year-olds in Argyll and Bute (122 young people) were not participating, which is an increase of 0.5% on 2024’s measure, and 0.2% below the national figure for non-participation of 3.9%. 1.6% of 16-19 year-olds in Argyll and Bute (53 young people) have an unconfirmed status, which is an decrease of 0.9% on 2024, and 1.2% below the national figure for Unconfirmed status of 2.8%.
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The table below summarises participation in Argyll and Bute over time: 4.5 The 2025 APM figures for Argyll and Bute exceed the Scottish average in all three classifications (noting that for non-participating and unconfirmed status, the lower percentage is desirable). Nationally, between 2023-24 and 2024-25, the Participation rate rose in 24 of the 32 local authorities by an average of 0.9% and fell in 8 authorities by an average of 0.2%. 4.6 Participation – Employment and Education • In 2024-25 there was a decrease in the number of 16-19 year-olds in employment in Argyll and Bute from 28.2% in 2023-24 to 28.0% in 2024-25. Nationally, 20.7% of 16-19 year-olds are in employment, which is an increase of 1.1% on 2023-24. The figure for 16-19 year-olds in employment in Argyll and Bute is 7.3% above the national average. • Between 2023-24 and 2024-25, the number of 16-19 year-olds in Argyll and Bute in education has increased from 64.8% to 65.4%. The national figure for 16-19 year olds in education is 70.4%, a fall of 0.8% from 2023-24. The figure for 16-19 year-olds in education in Argyll and Bute is 5% below the national average. • It can be seen from the above data that the number of 16-19 year-olds in Argyll and Bute in employment is significantly higher than the national figure, and that there are correspondingly fewer 16-19 year-olds in Argyll and Bute in education – specifically further and higher education – than nationally. 4.7 Non-Participation - Unemployment • In 2024-25, 1.2% of 16-19 year-olds in Argyll and Bute were classed as unemployed and seeking employment, an increase of 0.3% on 2023-24 and 0.8% below the national figure of 2.0%. 2018-2019 Argyll and Bute 2019-2020 Argyll and Bute 2020-2021 Argyll and Bute 2021-2022 Argyll and Bute 2022-2023 Argyll and Bute 2023-2024 Argyll and Bute 2024-2025 Argyll and Bute 2024-2025 Scotland Participating 94.8% 94.1% 93.5% 93.9% 94.4% 94.3% 94.6% 93.3% Not Participating 2.2% 2.4% 3.2% 3.8% 3.1% 3.2% 3.7% 3.9% Unconfirmed 3.0% 3.5% 3.3% 2.3% 2.4% 2.5% 1.6% 2.8%
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• 2.5% of 16-19 year-olds were defined as unemployed and not seeking employment, an increase again of 0.3% on 2023-24 and 0.5% above the national figure of 2.0%. 4.8 Equality Characteristics: Gender • In Argyll and Bute in 2024-25, females (94.6%) were slightly less likely to participate than males (94.7%). The percentage of females participating rose by 0.5% from 2023-24, while the percentage of males participating rose by 0.2 % in the same period • In Argyll and Bute, 59.4% of 16-19 year-old males were in education (an increase of 0.8% on 2023-24 and 5.9% below the national figure), compared with 71.9% of females (an increase of 0.3% on 2023-24 and 4.0% below the national figure) • 33.7% of Argyll and Bute 16-19 year-old males were in employment (a 0.7% decrease on 2024-24 and 8.8% above the national figure), compared with 21.9% of equivalent females (an increase of 0.5% on 2023-24 and 5.7% above the national figure). • The above figures show the continuing trend in Argyll and Bute among 16-19 year-olds for a significantly higher number of females than males to remain in education, while substantially more 16-19 year-old males than females are in employment, although both gaps have reduced slightly in the last year. Figures for both genders in education are below the national level, males particularly so, while figures for both genders in employment are well above the national average, again, more so for males. 4.9 Equality Characteristics – Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) • In Argyll and Bute, participation rates for young people from the most deprived backgrounds are lower than those of less deprived young people. 92.2% of 16-19 year-olds in the lowest SIMD quintile were participating – a 0.7% increase on the figure for the same SIMD quintile in 2023-24. 98.8% of 16- 19-year-olds in the highest SIMD quintile – the least deprived – were participating, an increase of 1.7% on 2023-24. The participation gap between SIMD quintile 1 (most deprived) and SIMD quintile 5 (least deprived) is 4.6%, a reduction of 1.0% on the 2023-24 gap figure. • The addressing of the poverty-related gap in participation levels is one of Argyll and Bute Council’s “stretch aims”, in the context of the Scottish Government’s Scottish Attainment Challenge and National Improvement Framework, and planning and intervention around reducing this gap are ongoing. DYW will continue its work to further reduce the poverty-related gap as it applies to participation for 16-19 year-olds.
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4.9 Equality Characteristics – Disability • In Argyll and Bute, the Participation figure for those identified as disabled is 90.7% - the same figure as in 2023-24 - compared to 95.2% for those not identified as disabled – an increase of 0.3% on 2023-24. 4.11 Link to Skills Development Scotland Annual Participation Measure 2024-2025: https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/publications- statistics/statistics/annual-participation-measure 5.0 CONCLUSION 5.1 The Annual Participation Measure provides data on the economic and employment activity of 16 to 19 year-olds and enables local authorities to measure progress against the National Improvement Framework priority “Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school-leaver destinations for all young people.” 5.2 There was a 0.3% increase in the percentage of young people from Argyll and Bute participating in education, training or employment in 2024-25 (94.6%). Participation rates in Argyll and Bute are above the national average, and the measures for young people not participating (3.7%) and classified as unconfirmed (1.6%) are below the national averages. Argyll and Bute Council ranks tenth of Scotland’s 32 local authorities for participation. 5.3 Education, Developing the Young Workforce (DYW), Skills Development Scotland (SDS), Community Learning and Development (CLD), local colleges, the Third Sector and other partners are working coherently to ensure participation rates in Argyll and Bute increase, and that all young people move into their chosen, sustained positive destination post-school. 5.4 Young people in schools who are at risk of entering a negative, non- participating destination are being positively targeted for supportive intervention, and young people are tracked having left school in order that interventions can be put in place to address any failure to sustain positive, participating destinations. Through such practice, Education, SDS, DYW and their partners seek to continue to increase the number of young people in Argyll and Bute participating productively and meaningfully in society. 5.5 The robust, current information provided by the Annual Participation Measure and the SDS Data Hub will continue to be used to identify potential issues and inform work with partner agencies. This will enable all agencies to be proactive in providing the necessary targeted and tailored intervention to support young people in achieving and sustaining their chosen area of participation in society.
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6.0 IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Policy - This report links directly to Priority 1 in the Argyll and Bute Corporate Plan 2023-2027: Improving educational attainment, achievement and outcomes for young people within Argyll and Bute to Scotland’s upper-quartile. 6.2 Financial – None 6.3 Legal – None 6.4 HR – None 6.5 Customer Service – None 6.6 Risk - Failure to support young people into positive destinations will impact on the life chances of young people across the Local Authority area and may result in outward migration of young people. A reduction in the number of young people securing positive destinations post-school risks reputational damage to the local authority, and detracts from its appeal as a place to live and work. 6.7 Climate Change – None 6.8 Fairer Scotland Duty – To ensure maximum Participation for 16-19 year-olds, the Education Service, Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) and partners are working to maximise the readiness for employment or continuing education of all young people in Argyll and Bute’s secondary schools. Through such partnership working to support individualised pathways for all young people, regardless of situation or place, the Council seeks to address inequalities of outcome caused by socioeconomic disadvantage. 6.9 Equalities - Protected Characteristics – All work relating to increasing Participation seeks to address inequalities in employment, training and education, and to provide support to those who most require it. 6.10 Consumer Duty – None 6.11 Island Communities – Young people in island and remote mainland communities often require extra support to ensure they are prepared for the personal, geographical, social and cultural changes which can accompany moving to a positive post-school destination. As such, the Council and its partners understand the need to assess such needs, and to work with schools to ensure young people are able to enter and sustain such positive destinations. 6.12 Children’s Rights and Wellbeing – The work to increase Participation aligns directly with Article 29 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full.
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Douglas Hendry - Executive Director with responsibility for Education Councillor Kieron Green - Policy Lead for Education For further information contact: Simon Easton, Education Manager Telephone: 01436 657681 Email: simon.easton@argyll-bute.gov.uk 11th December 2025