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The requested information is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Table 1 provides the number of school leavers who left school with one or more National Qualification(s) at Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework (SCQF) Level 6 or better from 2012-13 to 2021-22. This covers attainment in National Qualifications such as Highers and Skills for Work.

The figures are taken from the Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations publication and cover the attainment of leavers from mainstream, publicly funded schools.

Table 1: Number of school leavers with one pass or more at SCQF Level 6 or better, 2012-13 to 2021-22

I will lead the summit on behaviour and relationships in our schools, with the first stage of the taking place on 5 September. The views and experiences of school staff will be central to the summit process, which is focusing on practical support at classroom, school and local level to make a difference on this issue.

A multi-stage approach to the summit is planned to ensure the issues are considered in detail and to allow the later stages of the summit to benefit from the latest data following the publication of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools research. This research will provide a robust national picture in relation to behaviour in Scotland’s schools when it publishes in Autumn this year.

As well as our plans for the summit, I convened a Headteacher taskforce which includes representatives from across the education sector. The taskforce met in June and we considered the issue of school exclusions and consequences. We will use these discussions to inform our approach to the summit.

I will continue to update Cabinet colleagues in the usual manner.

The Scottish Government publishes statistics showing the number of young people who were in a positive destination three months and nine months after the end of each school year. These statistics are available on a comparable basis for school leavers from academic years 2009-10 to 2021-22. They cover all young people who left from a publicly funded mainstream secondary school in Scotland.

Table 1 shows the numbers and proportions of school leavers in a positive "initial" destination, three months after the end of the school year, for 2009-10 to 2021-22. Table 2 provides the same information for "follow-up" destinations, nine months after the end of the school year.

Positive destinations are: higher education, further education, employment, training, voluntary work, activity agreements (from 2010-11 to 2017-18 inclusive) and personal skills development.

The time period covered by these statistics means they contain data that will be affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The pandemic could have affected the opportunities available to some school leavers, either directly or due to an impact on attainment caused by the alternative approaches taken to grading National Qualifications in 2020, 2021 and 2022. This should be kept in mind when making comparisons over time.

Table 1. Number and percentage of school leavers in a positive initial destination, three months after the end of the school year, 2009-10 to 2021-22.

The Scottish Government does not gather this information. It is for local authorities to determine how they deliver the service to suit the needs and circumstances of children and young people in their area. We produced guidance to support local authorities, available at: Access to counselling in secondary schools: guidance - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Responsibility for school libraries is devolved to local authorities, who already have a statutory duty to ensure there is adequate provision of library services for their residents. There are no plans to impose a specific statutory duty on local authorities in relation to librarian services in schools. It is for local authorities to allocate their resources appropriately and aligned with the needs of the people they represent. Authorities should work in partnership with communities to explore ways of delivering services, based on need.

The Scottish Government’s vision for Scottish education is excellence and equity and ensuring that every child has the same opportunity to succeed regardless of their social circumstances or support needs.

The school’s approaches to closing the poverty related attainment gap and achieving excellence and equity for all children and young people form a key part of every school inspection.

HM Inspectors consider the quality of education provision and how well schools are meeting the needs of all children and young people including those children who require additional support and are entitled to free school meals.

HM Inspectors are provided with key information about the school. This includes the number of children with additional support needs, the nature of those needs, the percentage of children living in each area identified in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and the percentage of children and young people entitled to free school meals.

When evaluating the quality of education provision, HM Inspectors take account of the school's specific circumstances. They look closely at the needs of individual learners and groups of learners with additional support needs and those affected by poverty. They evaluate how well the school is supporting children and young people by looking closely at their support plans, observing learning and teaching and speaking to them. HM Inspectors consider the extent to which schools promote equity of success and have raised attainment and achievement for all children and young people, including those who are most disadvantaged.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland’s (GTCS) Standard for Full Registration, which is the benchmark for competence required of all registered teachers, outlines that all teachers are required to demonstrate a depth of knowledge and understanding of pedagogical and learning theories, and draw on these appropriately to inform practice in areas such as dyslexia. Furthermore, the GTCS Guidelines for Accreditation of Initial Teacher Education Programmes, are clear that programmes should expose all students to national priorities and pedagogies to develop their understanding and practice in areas such as dyslexia.

Over 700 teachers have GTCS registration in additional support needs which is available to those with appropriate qualifications.

The Scottish Government have invested £16m per year in order to ensure that children and young people have quick and effective access to support for their mental health and wellbeing through counsellors in schools. Local authorities provide six-monthly reports to the Scottish Government on this commitment. The reports confirm that the overall picture on improving children and young people’s outcomes is positive.

A summary of the reports can be found here: Access to counsellors in secondary schools and children and young people’s community mental health services – summary reports - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . We will publish a summary of the 2022 reports in the coming weeks, which will include the number of counsellors local authorities reported were in post.

The recent teacher pay deal is the largest in twenty years and was made against a challenging financial backdrop. It is in that context that we have had to review funding commitments across the programme.

We continue to value the importance of professional development for teachers as demonstrated by the range of professional learning and leadership programmes provided by Education Scotland and detailed on their website Education Scotland | Professional Learning and Leadership . In addition, we are investing £800,000 this year in the Into Headship programme to support future school leaders.

We are open to considering reinstating funding for masters-level learning for teachers should future budget provisions allow.