Youngsters setting a new jobs trend

NEARLY half of all school leavers at Langholm Academy are setting an exciting new trend by going straight into employment.

Many of the Eskdale teenagers are turning their backs on colleges and universities – which have no guarantees of jobs – and are instead finding work locally.

National statistics for school leavers going into employment are 23 percent, but at Langholm Academy the figures are more than double at 47 percent.

A huge factor behind this success is employment preparation and programmes that the school has organised with local community partners, such as The Stevenson Trust and Buccleuch Estates.

Headteacher Lauren McLean shared the news at the Annandale and Eskdale area committee last week.

She said: “We’re achieving positive destinations at Langholm Academy. We’ve actually seen a change in the trend over the last four years. So from 2020 we had roughly 36 percent of our pupils going into higher education.

“In 2024 that changed to 21 percent – and the shift is around our young people choosing to go into employment locally instead.

“So, from 2022, our employment stats were 31 percent of our school leavers were going to employment and in 2024 that had risen to 47 percent.

“This is a huge rise, particularly against the national statistics of 23 percent of leavers going into employment.

“We would attribute this positive shift to the work that we do with our local community partners. We work really closely with our local partners to do mock interviews, to run a careers fair, and also to offer work experience.

“And as a result of that positive work with our community, we are seeing many more of our young people are choosing to leave us at the end of S4, S5, and S6 to go into the positive destination of employment within the community, which is a great story because we know that they’re keeping their skills within the community.”