TWELVE students a day are now dropping out of further education in Scotland, with failure rates doubling in the last four years, Kezia Dugdale has warned.

Challenging Nicola Sturgeon at First Minister’s Questions, the Scottish Labour leader said the number had risen from 934 in 2011/12 to 2,256 in 2015/16.

Ms Dugdale also raised a new Audit Scotland report which found the number of full-time equivalent students, the SNP government’s preferred measure, had fallen in 2015-16 and was now its lowest level since 2006-07.

Ms Dugdale said: "Colleges are the engine of our economy, for many people they are the second chance in education, or the first chance that they never had. But even if a young person does make it to college under the SNP, far too many don't complete their course.”

She reminded Ms Sturgeon she had once said she had a “sacred responsibility” to every young person in Scotland.

"Well they are being held back by our First Minister. It is harder to get into college under the SNP and if you get in, it is even harder to stay there.

“It is getting harder to believe a word that comes out of her mouth."

Ms Sturgeon said she did not agree with the “methodology” of the Audit Scotland report, despite it being run past the government in advance for fact-checking.

She said: “What we have is colleges exceeding the national target for learning, more full-time equivalent students successfully completing their course, the vast majority of students saying they are satisfied with their college experience, and more than 80 per cent leaving college with a qualification and going into further study, training or employment.

"On whatever measure we look at, our college sector, yes it's performing under pressure, but it's performing exceptionally well."

Scottish Labour education spokesman Iain Gray later claimed Ms Sturgeon had “lost the plot” when she challenged the reliability of the Audit Scotland report.

“She has resorted to attacking Audit Scotland. That is beneath her and she must apologise.”