Positive outcomes for South Ayrshire schools in recent Education report

South Ayrshire Council's Education Performance Review report was approved* at Cabinet on Tuesday 28 April.

This report highlights the progress made across several priority areas, including raising attainment and improving outcomes for children and young people. These improvements bring South Ayrshire above national averages across various metrics.

School attendance in both the Primary and Secondary stages has increased year upon year since 2022. Primary attendance currently sits at 93.4%, which is above national level of 93.1%. In our secondary schools, overall attendance has risen to 89%, which is a significant increase from the attendance level of 85% in 2022-23.

Positive attendance trends are supported by our ongoing "'Every Learner, Every Day'" (ELED) campaign which promotes the benefits of going to school across a variety of media channels, with real South Ayrshire pupils as the stars. ELED campaign materials were viewed a total of 3.7 million times during the 2024-25 session. As part of the strategy to raise attendance, the messaging has been expanded to include the Early Years stage.

Exclusions remained low, with the number of Secondary school exclusions having fallen since the previous school session, highlighting the impact of enhanced nurturing, and inclusive and preventative approaches.

The report shows positive trends in terms of Broad General Education (BGE), with South Ayrshire schools performing above national averages. Early Years developmental milestone data continues to rise, demonstrating effective Early Years provision, including strengthened delivery of play-based learning and improved transitions into Primary 1. Significant gains were also made at Primary 7 level in reading, listening, talking and numeracy.

The 'South Ayrshire Reads' literacy strategy continues to support improvements, with partnership activity such as Ayr United reading ambassadors boosting motivation and engagement.

Leavers' data remains strong with 97.3% of school leavers moving into a positive and sustained destination. This figure has been above national benchmarks consistently for the last five years.

South Ayrshire Council's Assistant Director of Education, George Docherty, said: "The performance of South Ayrshire Council's Education service remains strong, and the data in this report highlights the positive impact that our schools and Early Years staff and central teams have on children and young people's learning, wellbeing, and long-term outcomes.

"As we move forward, our priorities include strengthening writing and numeracy and further raising attainment. We also hope to continue our momentum in improving attendance."

*Approval is subject to call ins.