THE number of Scottish pupils who were unemployed when they left school has fallen to its lowest level for a decade.

Official figures show 92.3 per cent of young people who left school in 2014 went into employment, training or further education - a rise of 0.9 per cent on the previous year.

The proportion who reported being unemployed or seeking employment fell to 6.3 per cent from 7.1 per cent in 2012/13.

The figures show some 39 per cent of pupils went into higher education at either a university or college, 26 per cent took up a place in further education and 22 per cent went into employment.

Angela Constance, the new Education Secretary, said the figures demonstrated improving prospects for young people.

She said: "The task is now to redouble our efforts to accelerate improvements in attainment and ensure that all young people have the opportunity to fulfil their potential, regardless of their background.

"We are undertaking a range of actions to raise attainment across the board, including investing an additional £1.5 million to help reduce barriers to learning experienced by pupils from disadvantaged areas. We must do all we can within the powers and resources we have to narrow the gap and drive up standards at all levels."

Damien Yeates, chief executive of Skills Development Scotland, added: "Together with partners, schools, colleges and local authorities, we provide a range of services that aim to help young people make a successful transition from school to the workplace.

"We also recognise that pupils need to hear directly from employers and that industry must play a part in shaping its future workforce."

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland teaching union, also welcomed the figures, but issued a warning over impending budget cuts.

"It is welcome that an increasing number of young people are moving on to positive destinations such as employment, training or continuing education after leaving school," he said.

"The fact that our schools are continuing to perform well, even in the face of budget cuts and declining staff numbers, is of great credit to the hard work of both pupils and teachers.

"However, we must see increased investment in education in order to ensure that our schools and colleges can continue to support young people and help equip them with the skills that are essential for Scotland's future."

Douglas Chapman, education spokesman for council umbrella group COSLA, said the results were based on the hard work done by schools.

"There is no room for complacency and the ambition for local authority schools is to deliver even more to maintain and increase this positive trend," he said.

In Glasgow, 89.7 per cent of school leavers achieved a positive destination, an increase of 0.5% and the council's best ever results.

Some 32.8 per cent went to higher education either at college or at university, a 1.4% increase from last year. Ten years ago the figure for higher education was just 18.2 per cent.

Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council, said: "Not only have we recorded the best ever exam results this year, the published destination figures prove that we are raising aspirations and expectations and more of our children going on to education, training or employment."