by BILL HEANEY
Participation in education, employment or training plummets as school leavers get older, new figures from Skills Development Scotland suggest today.
The 2026 Annual Participation Measure, show participation falls sharply with age, dropping from 99.2% among 16-year-olds to just 88.1% among 19-year-olds – an 11.1 percentage point gap.
The figures also highlight continuing inequalities, with young people from Scotland’s most deprived communities significantly less likely to be participating in education, employment, or training.
Participation stood at 89.1% among those living in the 20% most deprived areas, compared with 97.5% among those in the 20% least deprived areas.
The report further reveals that young people who are unemployed and seeking work are disproportionately aged 18 and 19, with 45.3% of those seeking employment aged 19.
Nearly a million young people in the UK classified as a Neet – not in education, employment or training.
After four years, one young woman says she is desperate to work.
“I’m nearly 20 now,” she told BBC Scotland.
“I at least thought by the time I was 18, 17 that I would have something and I don’t.
“I’m very frustrated about it because the amount of pressure that is on young adults nowadays is absolutely insane.”
The latest annual figures , on young people’s work status shows 93.6% of those aged 16-19 were in education, employment or training last year, up slightly on 2025.
It means around 8,500 young people in Scotland are not working or studying – and the activities of about 6,000 more are unconfirmed.
Commenting on the findings, Scottish Labour Economy Spokesperson Daniel Johnson, left, said:“These figures should be a wake-up call for the Scottish Government. While it is encouraging that participation among 16-year-olds is so high, the fact that this falls to just 88.1 per cent by the age of 19 shows that too many young people are being left behind.
“Every young person deserves the opportunity to fulfill their potential, whether that is through further or higher education, an apprenticeship, or a job. But those opportunities must be accessible, and young people must be given the support they need to take them up.
“The Scottish Government cannot afford to be complacent. We need to do more to tackle the barriers facing young people, particularly those from our most deprived communities, and ensure that no young person is left without a positive pathway into education, training, or employment.”
ENDS