§ Mr. Ancramasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many pupils left school at the age of 16 years with ordinary passes in the certificate of education expressed as a percentage of the total number of leavers at the age of 16 years in each of the last four years.
§ Mr. Alexander FletcherThe number of pupils who left school at the age of 16 years holding the Scottish certificate of education, expressed as a percentage of the total number of leavers aged 16 years in each of the last four years for which figures are available, is given in the following table:
School Leavers aged 16* Highest SCE 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 qualification per cent. per cent. per cent. per cent. O grades D-E 6 6 6 7 O grades A-C 33 34 34 34 Highers 31 31 34 33 All leavers aged 16 100 100 100 100 *"School leavers aged 16" are those pupils aged 16 at 31 December of the session in which they left school.