§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of school pupils in S.4 remained at school after 16 911W Years in the nearest available full year; and how this compares with the previous five years.
§ Mr. McElhoneThis information is not available in the precise form asked for; but the following table gives the numbers of pupils aged 16, 17 and 18 and over staying on voluntarily at education authority schools in Scotland expressed as a percentage of the 13-year-old age group 3, 4 and 5 years previously:
Session Age 16 Age 17 Age 18+ 1972–73 34.2 20.2 2.9 1973–74 36.0 18.8 2.5 1974–75 35.6 17.0 1.9 1975–76 36.5 16.5 1.6 1976–77 37.9 16.3 1.7 1977–78 N/A* 16.4 1.3 *Not available until the number of 16-year-olds leaving at the winter leaving date is known.