§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give in tabular form the numbers of young people aged(a) 16, (b) 17 and (c) 18 years who left school in each year from 1983 to the most recent date; and if he will give his projections for school leavers in each age bracket till 2000.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythInformation on the numbers of school leavers in school sessions 1982–83 to 1986–87 is set out in the table. Revised projections of school leavers are currently being prepared by officials. I shall reply to the hon. Member on this point as soon as possible.
School1 leavers; by age2; Scotland Age 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–873 15 38,473 37,643 35,193 33,817 32,281 16 31,040 31,098 30,607 29,613 28,793 17 19,678 19,387 18,862 18,610 18,269 418 1,797 1,609 1,157 1,036 1,001 1 All schools. 2 Age at 31 December of the school session. 3 Provisional. 4 Or over.