FEWER young people in West Dunbartonshire are going on to positive destinations after leaving school, according to official statistics.

A new “school leaver destination report” for 2019/20 recorded 89.66 per cent positive destinations in West Dunbartonshire – 3.7 per cent below the national figure, and a drop of 3.96 per cent from last year’s figure.

In Clydebank, of the 2019/20 leavers from Clydebank High School, 43 per cent progressed to higher education, 27 per cent to further education and 15 per cent to employment.

Almost 8 per cent were recorded as “unemployed, seeking work”, with 4 per cent in training and just over 2 per cent falling under the “unemployed, not seeking work” bracket.

At St Peter the Apostle High School, meanwhile, 44 per cent of leavers were recorded as being in higher education, while almost 29 per cent went on to further education.

Fourteen per cent progressed to employment, 7 per cent were recorded as “unemployed, seeking”, just over 3 per cent were in training, and almost 2 per cent were “unemployed, not seeking”.

The findings also concluded that pupils who live in Faifley and Drumry, are more likely to end up in negative destinations than those in other areas.

A council spokesperson said: “Our committed staff and teachers work tirelessly to ensure our young people are well equipped with the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to continue their development after leaving West Dunbartonshire schools.

“The past year has presented a number of challenges for our pupils and school leavers, but we continue to work with local and national partners to offer them tailored support and guidance to allow them to thrive.

“We remain focused on helping all our pupils reach positive destinations following their school education.”