Education: school related indicators

This page presents some contextual information that gives a flavour of the socio-economic and cultural background of school children attending publicly funded schools in different parts of Scotland.

Chart 1 shows the percentage of school pupils who are known to belong to an ethnic minority group. In 2004 for Scotland as a whole 3.5% of pupils (24,383 pupils) were known to come from an ethnic minority. However across Scotland there are wide variations in the percentages of pupils from ethnic backgrounds. Only 0.8% of pupils in Orkney were from an ethnic minority group and rates were generally low in the more rural councils. In contrast over 11% of pupils in Glasgow (8,191 pupils) were from ethnic minority groups and there are also relatively high proportions in Edinburgh, East Renfrewshire, Aberdeen and East Dunbartonshire.

Chart 2 shows the percentage of school pupils at publicly funded schools who are registered to receive free school meals. In 2004 for Scotland as a whole 16.2% of pupils (114306 pupils) were registered for free school meals. In Shetland Islands only 5.7% of pupils are registered for free school meals, while in Glasgow the figure is 36.1% (26483 pupils).

Further figures on schools can be obtained from Pupils in Scotland, 2003.