The Scottish Government

This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007

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5-14 attainment levels

24/01/2002

The results of the latest annual National Survey of 5-14 Attainment Levels of pupils from publicly funded primary and secondary schools are published today by the Executive.

The information was collected in June 2001 from all publicly-funded primary and secondary schools in Scotland.

Provisional figures were first published in December 2001 but this publication provides more detailed analysis on aggregated national and local authority level results for each stage from P2 to S2. For each stage, the percentage of pupils reaching the attainment target levels, as set out in 5-14 guidance is also shown.

The main findings are:

• For P2 pupils by June 2001, the percentage that were assessed and attained Level A or above was 73.5% in mathematics, 48.8% in reading and 33.3% in writing. This represents an increase from June 2000 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 69.5%, 43.5% and 25.4% respectively. (Table 1). [Please read paragraph 2 under 'Notes to News Editors' for specific issues affecting P2 results.]

• For P3 pupils by June 2001, the percentage that attained Level A or above was 94.9% in mathematics, 87.2% in reading and 82.8% in writing. This represents an increase from June 2000 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 94.2%, 84.6% and 78.6% respectively. (Table 2)

• For P4 pupils by June 2001, the percentage that attained Level B or above was 77.0% in mathematics, 78.7% in reading and 70.9% in writing. This represents an increase from June 2000 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 73.3%, 75.1% and 66.7% respectively. (Table 3)

• For P5 pupils by June 2001, the percentage that attained Level B or above was 90.4% in mathematics, 90.5% in reading and 85.6% in writing. This represents an increase from June 2000 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 89.8%, 89.2% and 83.6% respectively. (Table 4)

• For P6 pupils by June 2001, the percentage that attained Level C or above was 78.0% in mathematics, 82.9% in reading and 71.3% in writing. This represents an increase from June 2000 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 74.9%, 79.9% and 67.9% respectively. (Table 5)

• For P7 pupils by June 2001, the percentage that attained Level D or above was 67.0% in mathematics, 70.3% in reading and 56.3% in writing. This represents an increase from June 2000 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 64.4%, 66.3% and 52.6% respectively. (Table 6)

• For S1 pupils by June 2001, the percentage that attained Level D or above was 68.1% in mathematics, 70.5% in reading and 62.7% in writing. This represents an increase from June 2000 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 66.6%, 68.8% and 60.0% respectively. (Table 7)

• For S2 pupils by June 2001, the percentage that attained Level E or above was 51.2% in mathematics, 56.4% in reading and 45.9% in writing. This represents an increase from June 2000 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 46.7%, 53.1% and 43.5% respectively. (Table 8)

• As in previous years, the percentage of pupils attaining target levels in all subjects by June 2001 was generally higher in early primary stages and lower in later primary and early secondary stages. (Tables 1 to 8)

• As in previous years, the percentage of pupils attaining target levels in writing by June 2001 was lower than the percentage of pupils attaining target levels in reading and mathematics in every stage. (Tables 1 to 8)

• As in previous years, the percentage of pupils attaining Level A or above in P2 and P3 in mathematics by June 2001 was substantially higher than the percentage of pupils attaining Level A or above in reading and writing.

• However, by June 2001, the percentage of pupils attaining the target levels in reading, for stages P4 to S2, was higher than for mathematics. (Tables 1 to 8)

• By June 2001, the percentage of pupils whose attainment levels were confirmed by National Testing was over 90% for all subjects in all stages between P4 and S2. For primary stages P2 and P3 it ranged from 38.1% to 94.9%. (Tables 1 to 8)

• There has been an increase in the percentage of pupils whose attainment levels have been confirmed by National Testing between June 2000 and June 2001 for all subjects and stages. (Tables 1 to 8)

• The percentage of pupils attaining target levels has increased between 1999/00 and 2000/01 for most local authorities, across all subjects.

TABLES

Table 1 to Table 8 - Attainment Summary of P2 to S2 pupils, by stage, for reading, writing and mathematics, in Scotland, by June in 1998/99, 1999/00 and 2000/01 school years.

Tables 9 & 10 - Attainment Summary of P2-S2 pupils, by stage, for reading, by local authority, by June in 1999/00 and 2000/01 school years.

Tables 11 & 12 - Attainment Summary of P2-S2 pupils, by stage, for writing, by local authority, by June in 1999/00 and 2000/01 school years.

Tables 13 & 14 - Attainment Summary of P2-S2 pupils, by stage, for mathematics, by local authority, by June in 1999/00 and 2000/01 school years.

CHARTS

Chart 1 to Chart 3 - Attainment of P3, P4, P6, P7, and S2 pupils in Scotland, for reading, writing and mathematics, by June in 1998/99, 1999/00 and 2000/01 school years.

The National Survey of 5-14 Attainment Levels is conducted each year by the Education and Children Statistics Unit of the Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED). The first survey was conducted in June 1998 and subsequent surveys have been conducted in June 1999, June 2000 and June 2001. However, results from the June 1998 survey are not considered to be of sufficient quality to be published.

Users of the 5-14 results are advised to apply caution when considering results for the P2 stage both nationally and across local authorities. It is clear from the 5-14 results and data, that testing to confirm teachers' judgements of the level of attainment reached by P2 pupils is not being carried out uniformly across schools in Scotland. Users of the 5-14 results are advised to consider results from other stages, in particular P3, to obtain a more complete and accurate picture of 5-14 attainment in Scottish primary schools.

5-14 guidance states the following with respect to attainment target levels:

Data collected from Gaelic Medium education establishments have not been included in these results. This is due to continuing problems with the data definitions and data consistency. Users of the 5-14 results are therefore advised to apply caution when considering the results for some local authorities.

Results for 1998/99 and 1999/00 have been revised. This is due to slight revisions in the data, but also due to minor changes in previous analysis in order to provide more consistent year-on-year comparisons.

This is a National Statistics publication. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards as set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.