Positive literacy results for Moray school leavers
Moray’s latest secondary school leaver attainment report highlights positive literacy results for 2024/25, with ongoing work continuing to support numeracy and wider qualification outcomes.
The report looks at 1,084 young people who left Moray secondary schools in 2024/25, compared with 994 leavers in 2023/24.
Literacy remains a key strength for Moray. At Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) level four, 94.74% of leavers achieved literacy, which is above the national Virtual Comparator figure of 93.01%. The Virtual Comparator compares Moray’s results with pupils from similar backgrounds across Scotland.
At SCQF level five literacy, 80.17% of Moray leavers achieved the measure, which is broadly in line with the Virtual Comparator at 80.42%.
In numeracy, 88.84% of Moray leavers achieved SCQF level four, compared with the Virtual Comparator at 90.82%. At SCQF level five, 70.66% of Moray leavers achieved numeracy, compared with the Virtual Comparator at 71.84%. Schools continue to focus on strengthening numeracy attainment as part of wider improvement work.
The report also shows that 93.45% of Moray school leavers moved into a positive destination, such as further education, higher education, employment or training. This means 1,013 young people progressed to a positive destination after leaving school.
Moray also saw a higher proportion of leavers entering employment than comparator areas, with 30.17% moving straight into work. A further 23.80% entered further education and 34.69% progressed to higher education.
The report notes that 71 young people moved into a non-positive or unknown destination, and continued partnership work is taking place to support young people into positive and sustained pathways after school.
Chair of the Education, Children’s and Leisure Services Committee, Cllr Kathleen Robertson, said: “These are encouraging results for Moray’s young people, particularly in literacy, and it’s positive to see more than 1,000 leavers moving on to education, training or work.
“We know there’s more to do, especially around numeracy and wider qualification outcomes. Schools are already focused on this through better use of data, closer tracking of pupil progress, school improvement planning, peer review, and continued support for wellbeing, inclusion and additional support needs.
“We’ll keep working with schools and partners to build on what’s working and make sure young people get the support they need to do well.”