If you were to go by the numbers on a page alone, Callum Lynch's chances in life were slim at best.

His early years were spent moving from house to house in the east end of Glasgow, exposed to violence and suffering from neglect.

By the time he reached primary school, the labels so easily placed but so hard to remove were stuck to his back.

"I remember the word 'delinquent' being used to describe me," he says.

It was a label so strong, he was made to leave two separate primary schools. He was a child out of control, the noisy one, the one unable to sit quietly.

To those not used to that type of behaviour, he would have seemed a "bad" kid. To others who've worked with troubled children, it was a desperate cry for help. For him, "daily beatings" at home were normal.

"Instead of teachers recognising that, it was a lot easier to jump to the last resort and exclude me," says Callum.

"It was really challenging for me to think that I was a bad child, and I think I often believed it. I think I fell into that position because I kind of gave up."

Then, near to the end of his time at primary school, a serious incident meant Callum was taken into care for the first time on July 26, 2006.

It was the biggest label of his young life. He was 11-years-old.

"I almost had a break down," he says. "I just reached a point where it was too much for me at home. I was trying to carry too much."

He went into a room with a social worker and told them everything.

According to Scottish Government statistics published in 2016, only 35% of care experienced young people leave school with one or more qualification at SCQF Level 5 or above, compared to 84% of the general population.

Care experienced pupils are seven times more likely to be excluded from school and 21% become homeless within five years of leaving care.

For Callum, the Glasgow care home he was placed in with five other boys was supposed to be a safe haven. To him though, it seemed more like a prison.

"There were cameras around the house; there was a humongous security door." he remembers. "In my bedroom I had a bar on the window."

It didn't feel like a home. It just left Callum feeling unsettled.

"We were constantly reminded that being hugged for too long was inappropriate, that the people looking after us were there to work," he says.

"Throughout residential care it was hard, I was bullied a lot, I had people pull out weapons to me because I was the boy that stayed in the home," he adds.

"I was told my mum didn't love me, I was told I was an orphan. I was referred to as 'Annie' and 'Oliver Twist'."

Watching workers come and go, back to their own homes and families was the hardest.

"You were just sitting there wanting that more than anything but you knew you could never have that," says Callum quietly.

Callum, now aged 22, pinpoints a lack of love as a simple, brutal reality of the system he says failed him.

His friend, Noel Anaya agrees with him. He was also brought up in the care system - his story centres in San Francisco rather than Scotland but the details are wearily familiar.

"I was born and raised pretty much in foster care" he says. "At the age of one I was placed into the system.

"Me and my brother entered the system together; he was living with us for I would say about a year or so and then he was separated and that was really hard for me because he was the only link to our family."

Both he and Callum faced the same grim statistics, the numbers on the page which show that children in care are more likely to see the inside of a prison cell than a university.

Scotland has around 15,000 cared for children - roughly equivalent to the population of St Andrews. Recent research showed just 40% of them end up in employment education or training.

Just 4% of care experienced pupils go straight from high school to university.

By the time Callum was in school, he didn't know the numbers but he did know some of the sad outcomes - and he was determined to be in that rare 4%.

He was just turning 13, and he could see people in the care system around him turning to drugs or alcohol.

Callum was determined. He put in a monumental effort at school and his grades picked up. Soon he was excelling.

The only fear he now had, he said, was of failing.

He left school with eight Highers - all either As or Bs - and for him, what made the difference was having others determined to help him defy the odds too.

The charity Who Cares Scotland, which Callum has been an active member of for years, introduced him to the opportunity of a lifetime - a chance to study at Harvard, one of the world's most prestigious universities.

To his surprise, he was accepted for an eight week scholarship to attend Harvard's summer school programme.

"It's still really difficult to comprehend that I've been to Harvard University," he says. "I just felt important and it was something that I'd never really felt."

His friend Noel's life changing moment came in a courtroom rather than a lecture hall.

Individual US states decide the age at which children in their care 'age out' of the system and the moment is usually marked with a court hearing. Noel applied to have his appearance recorded.

"I had to figure out what message do I want to convey when I go into court," he says.

He told the judge the system had failed him and his siblings. "At 21 you happily kick us off to the curb and say good luck I wish you well, I wish you the best but don't come back because we can't take you in," he told them.

"I've seen too many of my people give up on the educational system."

Callum went on to study for an honours degree in Management and Marketing at Strathclyde University.

After years of dedication and hard work, he handed in his honours dissertation on July 26, 11 years to the day after he was first taken into care.

The Scottish First Minister came to his graduation.

Since then, his hopes have been pinned on helping others in care thrive.

Callum and Noel met Nicola Sturgeon this week to discuss how to change the system for the better, after the Scottish Government launched a review into its practices culture and ethos in May last year.

It's something Callum describes as a once in a lifetime opportunity.

"I think that the best way to fix this broken system is for young people to come together, individually, collectively, to speak on issues that affect them," he says.

"To speak openly about mental health housing and so forth. It's not professionals sitting around a table. "

The review of Scotland's care system was first announced by Ms Sturgeon in 2016. It will see the First Minister hear from at least 1000 people who have experience of Scotland's care system.

It is hoped that the review will change the poor statistics that young people have faced for decades, and give more children like Callum the chance they deserve to reach their full potential.

"I still feel almost as though I'm unworthy," says Callum. "Because young people in care are more likely to see the inside of a prison than a university.

"We are the product of a system that is really faulty and needs to be changed."

To nominate a young person to feature on STV during the Year of Young People, email stvnews@stv.tv contact us on Facebook at STV News or on Twitter via @stvnews.