All children have the right to an education – but how our future generations perform at school can be enormously affected by their home lives and personal circumstances.

One of the most upsetting experiences a young person can have is being taken into care. According to the latest Scottish government figures, 12,206 children in Scotland were ‘looked after’ or in care as of 31 July 2023, with the majority being of school age (between the ages of 5 and 15).

The reasons for a child being taken into care vary enormously but often relate to circumstances such as being at risk of abuse, parental neglect or a change in the family situation, which means the child’s parents can no longer look after them. This could include an illness, a disability, a prison sentence or issues with drugs and alcohol.

Looked after children will often be placed in foster homes, or with a kinship carer. Such upheaval can impact how they behave in school and how they perform on exams and assessments. The latest educational attainment figures for looked after children in Scotland show a difference in outcomes for those children who are looked after and those who aren’t.

The figures show that while there is overall upwards trend, with looked after children performing better year-on-year, there has been a decline in the last year. Other findings show that:

• Looked after pupils are less likely to achieve the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) levels most relevant to their age
• Looked after pupils lag behind other pupils in numeracy and writing skills
• Attendance levels for looked after children has fallen in the last year, with more unauthorised absences than previous years
• Looked after pupils are being excluded from school more often than in previous years
• More looked after pupils are going on to achieve SCQF levels 3, 4 or 5 or better than in previous years
• Children in care who are looked after outside of the family home (for example in a foster home) have better attainment levels than looked after children who remain in the family home
• The impact on educational attainment is most keenly felt by looked after children in their first year of care
• The impact of being in care is less pronounced on educational attainment for children taken into care before starting secondary school

We exist to help children in our local area access the opportunities they deserve to thrive, both inside and outside of the classroom. We know that in lower-income communities, that’s more of a challenge, and often, there simply aren’t the resources required to help our young people embrace educational experiences.

We hope to help change that with grants and funding for a wide range of projects, schemes and charities working to make a positive difference in the lives of local children while improving educational outcomes.