Annual Participation Measure

The Scottish Government’s Opportunities for All commitment offers a place in learning or training to every 16-19 year old who is not in employment, education or training.

SDS worked with the Scottish Government to develop a measure of participation which allows us to identify the participation status of the wider 16-19 cohort.

The latest report (published November 2026) marks the twelfth release of statistics on the participation of 16–19-year-olds at a national and local authority level. 

The Annual Participation Measure (APM) reports on the education and employment activity of 16- to 19-year-olds in Scotland. It is the source of the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework indicator “Young People’s Participation”.

The measure is drawn from records on our Customer Support System (CSS), which are updated by SDS and by partners (including local authorities/schools, colleges, SAAS, DWP).  It allows all partners to better understand the impact of interventions and the outcomes they deliver at every transition point for 16–19-year-olds. Although the APM publication is annual, local authorities and colleges can access their own data via the 16+ Participation Portal at any time. 

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) data was included in the 2025 and 2026 APM datasets but was not available for earlier years. The introduction of HMRC data therefore represents a break in the time series, and comparisons with years before 2025 cannot be made on a like-for-like basis and should be interpreted with care. HMRC data has had a positive impact on the results, as it reduced the number of records with an unconfirmed status and contributed to higher reported participation, particularly in employment.

SDS receives HMRC data solely for statistical purposes, which means it cannot be integrated into CSS and shared with partners. We are still pursuing this additional level of access via the Scottish Government and HMRC. 

Notice of Correction – Supplementary Tables - Table 1.9: Annual Participation Measure (Ethnicity by Local Authority)

Errors were identified within Table 1.9 (Annual Participation Measure: Ethnicity by local authority) in the supplementary tables. These errors affected the White ethnicity category for the years 2016 to 2021. The main publication and national headlines were unaffected. Table 1.9 was first published in 2022, and the errors have been present since its initial release. The errors arose because Table 1.10 was used as a template when producing Table 1.9, and values for those recorded as Not Identified as Disabled were not updated to reflect the White ethnicity group. As a result, both the reported counts and percentages for the White category were incorrect. In addition, an incorrect formula was used to calculate percentages for the Not Known / Not Disclosed group. While this affected the percentage values, the underlying counts for this group were reported accurately. These errors have now been corrected, and a revised versions of the supplementary tables and accompanying Power BI report were republished on 26 June 2026.

The disability breakdown within the Annual Participation Measure for 2016, 2017, and 2018 was revised on 27/11/2018.

Please see background notes for an overview of the Annual Participation Measure methodology and definitions.

Annual Participation Measure

The interactive report below provides an overview of the annual participation measure, at a national and local authority level.

A short video tutorial is available to support the use of this interactive report. 

The data used for the interactive report is also available in the supplementary tables.