OFFICIAL statistics on where Scottish teenagers end up when they leave school are painting a false picture, critics have warned.

According to Scottish Government figures more than 90 per cent of school-leavers went on to a "positive destination" last year including university, college or a job.

However, businessman Jim McColl said some pupils were classed as reaching a positive destination if they undertook just a few days work experience under an activity agreement.

Activity agreements are designed to get pupils who are the furthest from the jobs market some experience of college courses or work, but no minimum engagement time is specified.

Mr McColl, who has set up a college in Glasgow for pupils deemed unsuitable for secondary school, said: "An activity agreement allows a school to tick the box saying a pupil has entered a positive destination, but it can be a two day activity agreement. It's a cop-out because these people are not going on to positive destinations."

He was backed by independent educational consultant Keir Bloomer who suggested "dead end" jobs where people were working on the minimum wage or less were being classed as "positive".

He said: "Monitoring leaver destinations is very worthwhile and it is important that it is done as well as possible. The current statistics seek to distinguish between destinations that are positive and those that are not and in some cases there is little doubt.

"Activity agreements are counted as positive, but the benefit to young people is often negligible. Similarly, employment is seen as a good outcome regardless of the nature of the job, the pay or the prospects for the person's future.

"The current categorisation exaggerates the proportion of school leavers who achieve positive destinations and this benefits nobody - particularly those that end up in dead-end activities of various kinds."

However, Jim Thewliss, general secretary of the School Leaders' Scotland teaching union, said schools were in a much better place than a decade ago when very little was known about school leaver destinations.

He said: "This level of engagement between schools, further education, higher education and employers has never been there before, but there has to be more clarity around what a positive destination is.

"There needs to be more rigour around what positive means and what job is involved, how long have individuals been there for and is it sustainable."

An SNP spokesman said: "Phrases like dead-end jobs are very unhelpful and risk insulting many thousands of hard-working young people across Scotland who have got their foot on the employment ladder and are looking to move upwards in their career. It is absolutely right that all paid employment should be counted in these statistics."