This is a case study for Principle V1: Relevance to users.

Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Government education team both produce statistics on young people in Scotland.

Scottish Government reports on school leaver destinations in its Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations (National Statistics) publication.

Skills Development Scotland produces its Annual Participation Measure for 16–19-year olds in Scotland which reports on the proportion of the 16-19 year old cohort, including those at school, who are in learning, training or work. Skills Development Scotland is not an official statistics producer at present; however, its statistics are produced in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

The team at Scottish Government recognised what might be perceived as a confusing landscape for users who may not be clear on which statistics to use for what purpose. They reviewed all the available statistics about school leaver destinations, and, with the support of Skills Development Scotland, ran a consultation to find out how the data are used and how users felt about proposals to reduce the duplication of statistics. As a result, they developed a long-term plan to reduce duplication and simplify the statistical landscape, which builds upon the progress made in recent years.

This demonstrates how producers can work collaboratively and engage with users to review and amend statistics provisions.