Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-22157 on 13 August 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Figures from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) show that the proportions of Scottish domiciled, full time undergraduate first degree students from the 40% most deprived data zones, as ranked by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, who did not continue into the next year of study at one of Scotland’s four ancient universities were:

It is not possible to confirm if these students embarked on another course of higher education study after leaving their original course.

In a letter of guidance issued to the SFC on 31 July 2014, I confirmed that the Scottish Government wants to improve retention rates and the level and quality of support for students who need more assistance to successfully complete their course, particularly at those universities performing less well in this regard.

The letter of guidance 2015-16 is available at:

http://www.sfc.ac.uk/aboutus/letterofguidance/letterofguidance.aspx

The Scottish Government has, and continues to, take a range of actions to enable looked after children to improve outcomes, leaver destinations and attainment levels. In accordance with Getting it right for every child principles we continue to encourage high-quality, individually tailored, multi-agency approaches for this vulnerable group.

The needs of looked after children, young people and care leavers who have experienced multiple placements are embedded in our wider work to improve outcomes such as Getting it right for every child, Curriculum for Excellence, Additional Support for Learning, More Choices More Chances and Opportunities for All.

Young people need stability if they are to achieve. We have established the Permanence and Care Excellence (PACE) programme which aims to achieve fewer placements and earlier permanence for children and young people. PACE is being implemented in Aberdeen City and Renfrewshire and uses improvement methodology and takes a whole system (local authorities, children’s hearings & courts) approach to improving permanence. We will share the learning from this pilot and plan to extend the PACE programme to other areas over the next couple of years. We also fund the Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children to provide direct support to local authorities to improve the way they deliver permanence.

All educational establishments are now required to have a designated senior manager for looked after children, with responsibilities for improving learning outcomes.

Whilst there is still much to be done, the 2012-13 educational outcomes statistics demonstrate the progress that has been made in improving the attainment and achievement of looked after children. Since 2009 the proportion of young people in positive destinations has increased by 12 percentage points and the average tariff score has increased by 19 tariff score points. Attendance is improving and exclusions have fallen by 43%.

The reasons for looked after children and young people experiencing poorer educational outcomes, lower levels of educational attainment and positive destinations are multiple and various.

The 2007 report We Can and Must Do Better highlighted ‘‘continuity, stability, a sense of security and support as key to ensuring that looked after children and young people do as well as their peers in terms of achievement and attainment at school and in positively participating in the wider school community.’’

Further, the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Culture Committee report Inquiry into the educational attainment of looked after children indicated that ‘‘Children are ready to learn when they are emotionally stable, with secure attachments to key care givers, are free of threat and risk and attend school on a regular and consistent basis, and are supported by key role models who value education and actively support learning’’.

Whilst there is still much to be done, the 2012-13 educational outcomes statistics demonstrate the progress that has been made in improving the attainment and achievement of looked after children. Since 2009 the proportion of young people in positive destinations has increased by 12 percentage points and the average tariff score has increased by 19 tariff score points. Attendance is improving and exclusions have fallen by 43%.

The Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act 2013 introduced statutory widening access agreements as part of the wider outcome agreement dialogue between the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and each higher education institution in Scotland.

A university outcome agreements summary document, published by the SFC in May 2014, sets out how individual universities are improving access for students from more deprived communities. Activities include development or expansion of summer schools and other programmes focused on assisting students to obtain a place at university.

A good example involving one of the ancient universities is the University of Glasgow’s refinement of their admissions process as part of an approach to recruiting 200 extra entrants from the most deprived 40% of data zones, as ranked by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, over the next three years.

In 2013-14, the Scottish Government committed additional funded places for Scottish and EU students to support widening access to a university education and articulation from college to university. A further commitment has been made for academic year 2014-15.

Enabling students from the most deprived backgrounds to study at ancient universities also requires closing the attainment gap in schools. Independence will have a significant and positive impact on education if Scotland has control of the welfare, benefits and taxation systems. With independence – and control over these powers – we have a decisive opportunity to put an end to underachievement in our schools that is caused by poverty.

We have no current intention of legislating on or reviewing the law in this area. I understand that the member is interested in “in perpetuity” clauses in timeshare contracts. Legislation on timeshare is a reserved matter (see Head C7 of Part II of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998). The subject matter of the Timeshare Act 1992 includes the right to cancel timeshare agreements. That subject matter remains reserved although the Timeshare Act 1992 has been repealed.

There is no specific ring fenced amount allocated to addressing debt accumulated by Scottish domiciled students.

The overall student support package offered by the Scottish Government is geared towards providing a mixture of support through free tuition, bursary and loan. Scottish domiciled students do not have to pay fees of up to £27,000 charged for tuition elsewhere in the UK. This is a real saving that does not become a debt.

Scotland continues to have the lowest level of average debt per student. The Scottish figure of £7,600 compares with £20,100 for England, £17,310 for Wales and £16,820 for Northern Ireland.

Scotland continues to have the lowest level of average debt per student. The Scottish figure of £7,600 compares with £20,100 for England, £17,310 for Wales and £16,820 for Northern Ireland.

The Scottish Government aims to contribute to maintenance of this by continuing to provide free tuition, saving students up to £27,000 compared to their peers elsewhere in the UK. In addition, interest repayment for Scottish domiciled students is kept at a minimum level.

The final report of the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce, Education Working For All! was published on 3 June 2014. The report makes a number of recommendations designed to provide earlier opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to access vocational opportunities in the senior phase of curriculum for excellence.

The report contains a chapter on advancing equalities. This chapter makes a number of specific recommendations to improve educational and labour market outcomes for groups of young people who are currently disadvantaged in the labour market.