6
About Ayrshire
Population
10.
Scotland’s Census is the official estimate of every person and household. Estimates of the
population relating to Education and the Labour Market from the 2011 Census were published
in November 2013. It demonstrates that there are both similarities and differences across the
three council areas.
11.
Ayrshire’s population has been relatively stable over the past decade, though there have been
important changes in the age profile of residents. The number of children under 5 and adults of
‘prime’ working age has been falling, with growth concentrated amongst 16-24 years olds and the
over-55s. Ayrshire’s population has fewer people in their twenties and thirties than Scotland and
more people in their fifties. The percentage of the population aged 16 to 44 is a concern and
indicates an increasing number of people in the prime of their working lives are leaving Ayrshire.
12.
Census 2011 showed that the population age profile differs from the Scottish average in a number
of areas. Other than in South Ayrshire, the percentage of 5-15 year olds is higher than the Scottish
average; for all three local authority areas the percentage of the population aged 16 to 44 years
old is less than the average for Scotland; and across the region the percentage of people aged
over 60, particularly in South Ayrshire, is higher than the Scottish average. The increase in the
percentage of 5-15 year olds has implications for the College in relation to supporting increasing
numbers of school leavers across the region in the period covered by this OA.
13.
The profile of the College’s student population shows that a higher percentage of students in
Ayrshire are aged 16 to 19 and live in deprived areas than the rest of Scotland, and that nine out
of ten students at Ayrshire College live in the region. Table 1 demonstrates the residence of
students on our three main campuses.
Table 1 Residence of students by campus
2012-13
2013-14
Campus
From EA From NA From SA
Other
From EA From NA From SA
Other
Ayr
25%
10%
57%
7%
28%
10%
56%
5%
Kilmarnock
59%
17%
15%
9%
59%
17%
16%
8%
Kilwinning
9%
72%
6%
14%
9%
73%
7%
7%
Areas of deprivation
14.
The Ayrshire region has 64 SIMD datazones of the 10% most deprived SIMD datazones in
Scotland, which means that ten per cent of the most deprived datazones in Scotland are in
Ayrshire. The picture varies across the three local authority areas with 32 of those datazones
in North Ayrshire, 21 in East Ayrshire and 11 in South Ayrshire.
Ayrshire College Outcome Agreement 2014-17