MORE Glasgow school leavers are going on to further and higher education, work and volunteering.

For the first time, the city has broken the 90% mark of pupils going on to 'positive destinations' when they finish their secondary studies.

Figures from Skills Development Scotland are reported this week to council bosses by executive director of education Maureen McKenna.

The School Leaver Destination Return (SLDR) by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) looks at the next steps of the 4595 leavers from publicly funded schools in Glasgow, not including Jordanhill School.

The survey is taken on a 'snapshot' day in September of pupils who left school between August 1, 2014 and July 31, 2015.

Glasgow had 4,592 school leavers during this time.

This year for the first time Glasgow’s positive destinations broke the 90% mark, at 90.3%.

The figures lift Glasgow away from the bottom of the league table and place the city fourth from last.

But although this is up by 0.6% on last year, the figures are 2.6% below the national average, making Glasgow 29th out of 32 local authorities for positive leaver destinations.

More pupils are also going on to higher education than in previous years and the gap between the national figure and Glasgow’s has narrowed and is now at its lowest at 4.4%.

The percentage of leavers entering higher education (HE) was 33.9% - 4.4% lower than the national average of 38.3% but a rise on last year’s Glasgow figues of 1.1%.

It was also good news for the number of pupils going on to further education, which increased to 28.4% - higher than the national average of 27.8%.

Although the number of young people unemployed and seeking work is still higher than the national average, the number is decreasing year on year.

Figures also show that pupils from the most deprived postcodes are least likely to go on to further and higher education, although the gap is closing.

The report, by Ms McKenna, also states: "The number of ‘unknown’ school leavers has increased this year to 52.

"This is too high and is disappointing given that the figure had been declining since 2008/09.

"This has been scrutinised with SDS and monthly monitoring meetings have been taking place to address this. Since the survey was carried out the number of unknowns has reduced to 25."

At All Saints Secondary 95% of pupils last year went on to positive leaver destinations, against the city average of 90.3%.

Head teacher Peter Holmes credits this to the work of the Employability Skills Partnership, which is based in the Springburn school.

Previously, schools would link in with a central careers advice service but now experts are in a permanent hub in All Saints Secondary.

Mr Holmes said: "I feel the difference is having excellent partners working with our school who are based in the school and available to pupils when they are needed - that has been absolutely crucial.

"From third year we have a detailed risk matrix that identifies any pupils who have difficulties achieving or sustaining their positive destination.

"The professionals we have based in school, such as the employability support officers, can give information and support all the way through until the pupil leaves.

"It's been tremendous for the troops here."

The school also has good links to higher and further education with initiatives such as the Caledonian Club, at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Mr Holmes added: "Pupils who are applying for university are under tremendous pressure and competition is fierce - it's no longer purely about academic qualifications.

"We have partners who will give mock interviews to our pupils ahead of the application process, which we find is a big support to them."

All Saints Secondary has a diverse student population with 75% of pupils coming from the most deprived backgrounds.

Mr Holmes added: "Someone might look at the make up of our school and think, 'that's a tough shift', but it's not always the pupils from difficult backgrounds who need support.

"There are parts of Springburn that are relatively affluent and the pupils from there can have problems too.

"Our pupils perform at or above the national level for pupils from similar backgrounds but we are not complacent at all - there is always room for improvement.

"We are dead proud of our achievements but not too proud because you never know what's around the corner."

Employability Skills Partnership