This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Attainment and School Leaver Qualifications 2005-06
21/03/2007
This Statistics Publication Notice presents information on the attainment of National Qualifications by pupils attending publicly funded secondary schools and by school leavers. Selected information on attainment in special schools is also included. It updates the Statistics Publication Notice "School Attainment and Qualifications of School Leaver Qualifications in Scotland: 2004/05" published on 14 March 2006. This Notice also presents attainment data by a number of different pupil characteristics.
The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) is used as the basis for reporting attainment. The SCQF levels are shown below for information.
Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) levels: Level 7 CSYS at A-C; Advanced Higher at A-C Level 6 Higher at A-C Level 5 Intermediate 2 at A-C; Standard Grade at 1-2 Level 4 Intermediate 1 at A-C; Standard Grade at 3-4 Level 3 Access 3 cluster; Standard Grade at 5-6 Level 2 Access 2 cluster
Attainment below SCQF level 3 is only reported for special schools (Table 16) in this publication.
The main findings are:
Attainment:
* Cumulative attainment has remained stable in recent years. Attainment is greater for females than males in all stages and in all categories. (Tables 2-5)
* Of the pupils in S4 in 2003/04, 35 per cent had gained 5 or more awards at SCQF level 5 or better by the end of that year. This had increased to 48 per cent by the end of 2005/06. (Table 5) Calculating an average tariff score for each pupil (see note 3.8) allows easier comparisons of different types of qualifications.
* In S4, pupils attending schools in rural areas had higher average tariff scores than pupils attending urban schools. (Table 6)
* Pupils registered for free school meals scored less on average than those who were not. Similarly, pupils who live in the 15 per cent most deprived data zones had lower average tariff scores than those in the other 85 per cent of data zones. (Table 6)
* Data on looked after children is incomplete and may not be representative of all looked after children (see background note 4.4). However, the information available suggests that looked after children without a record of needs or individualised education plan have a lower average tariff score than pupils who are not looked after but do have a record of needs or individualised education plan. (Table 6)
* Chinese, Indian and Mixed race pupils in S4 attained the highest average tariff scores over the last three years. (Table 8)
School Leavers:
In 2005/06:
* 3.9 per cent of leavers obtained no awards at SCQF Level 3 or better (this compares with 4.4 per cent in 2004/05 and 4.2 per cent in 2003/04). It should be noted that some of these pupils will have achieved unit awards or Access 1 & 2 Cluster awards, however these are not currently included in the analyses. At least one pass at SCQF Level 7 was obtained by 13 per cent of leavers, which is slightly up on the figures for previous years. (Table 10)
* Eleven per cent of school leavers who were registered for free school meals attained no awards at SCQF level 3 or better, compared to 3 per cent of leavers not registered. (Table 11)
* Twelve per cent of pupils leaving schools in large urban areas attained at least one award at SCQF level 7. This compares to 16 per cent of pupils leaving schools in accessible rural areas. (Table 11)
* A higher proportion of females than males leaving publicly funded schools achieved passes at all SCQF Levels, except where three or more passes at SCQF Level 7 were attained. (Table 12)
* Ninety-four per cent of leavers attained English at SCQF Levels 3 to 5 and 93 per cent attained these levels in Mathematics. The proportions attaining English at SCQF Levels 6 and 7 were 26 per cent and 2 per cent respectively and the corresponding results for Mathematics were 19 per cent and 3 per cent. (Tables 13, 14 & 15)
Special Schools:
* There has been a decline in the number of qualifications gained in special schools, as well as a decrease in the proportion of passes, between 2004/05 and 2005/06.
The following tables are available:
Attainment:
Table 1 S4 roll by year and gender
Table 2 S4 Attainment
Table 3 S5 Attainment
Table 4 S6 Attainment
Table 5 Attainment of the pupils who were in S4 in 2003/04, by the end of each stage Table 6 Average tariff score of S4 pupils, by characteristic of pupil: 2005/06 Table 7 Three year average tariff score of S4 pupils, by urban/rural location of school and registration for free school meals: 2003/04-2005/06 Table 8 Three year average tariff score of S4 pupils, by ethnic background and registration for free school meals: 2003/04-2005/06 Table 9 Three year average tariff score of S4 pupils, by looked after status combined with Record of Needs/Individualised Education Programme status, and registration for free school meals: 2003/04-2005/06
School leavers:
Table 10 Highest qualifications attained by leavers, by gender: 2003/04-2005/06 Table 11 Highest qualifications attained by leavers, by characteristic of pupil: 2005/06 Table 12 Total qualifications attained by leavers, by gender: 2003/04-2005/06 Table 13 Total qualifications attained by leavers at SCQF levels 3 to 5, by subject and gender: 2005/06 Table 14 Total qualifications attained by leavers at SCQF Level 6, by subject, grade and gender: 2005/06 Table 15 Total qualifications attained by leavers at SCQF Level 7, by subject, grade and gender: 2005/06
Special Schools:
Table 16 Single year attainment in all special schools, by SCQF level, year and gender: 2001/02-2005/06
The following charts are available:
Chart 1 S4 Attainment
Chart 2 S5 Attainment
Chart 3 S6 Attainment
Chart 4 Average tariff score of S4 pupils, by ethnic background: 2005/06
Chart 5 Average tariff score of S4 pupils, by national identity: 2005/06
Chart 6 Average tariff score of S4 pupils, by asylum status: 2005/06
Chart 7 Average tariff score of S4 pupils, by deprivation status: 2005/06
Chart 8 Average tariff score of S4 pupils, registration for free school meals: 2005/06
Chart 9 Average tariff score of S4 pupils, by looked after status and Record of Needs/Individualised Educational Programme status: 2005/06
Chart 10 Three year average tariff score of S4 pupils, by urban/rural location of school and registration for free school meals: 2003/04-2005/06
Chart 11 Three year average tariff score of S4 pupils, by ethnic background and registration for free school meals: 2003/04-2005/06 Chart 12 Three year average tariff score of S4 pupils, by looked after status combined with Record of Needs/ Individualised Education Programme status, and registration for free school meals: 2003/04-2005/06
Chart 13 Three year average tariff score of S4 pupils, by characteristic of pupil: 2003/04-2005/06
BACKGROUND NOTES
1. National Statistics Statement
This is a National Statistics publication. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards 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.
2. Data Sources
2.1 Data on National Qualifications are obtained from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).
2.2 Information on school leavers is collected from individual schools via either a paper return or electronic data exchange through schools' Management Information Systems.
2.3 Pupil data comes from the annual Pupil Census. In September 2005, Pupil Census data was collected electronically, through local authorities, from all publicly funded schools as part of the Scottish Exchange in Educational Data (ScotXed) Programme. Further information can be found at www.scotxed.net. Previous years' school roll figures were obtained from the Census as at September in the relevant year.
3. Definitions
3.1 Examination data are Post-Appeals and update the figures published in September 2006.
3.2 National averages include education authority, grant-aided and self-governing schools only. Special Schools include some Independent Special Schools.
3.3 Awards are credited to the presenting centre only. Results may be affected by pupils who are presented for examinations at Further Education colleges.
3.4 The tables cover the attainment of National Qualifications (NQs) at Standard Grade, Access 3, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2, Higher and Advanced Higher, and are presented either using the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Levels or average tariff scores. Some pupils will have achieved unit awards, Access 1 or 2 Clusters and non NQ awards, but these are not currently included in the analyses with exception of Access 2 Clusters, included for special schools only.
3.5 From 2002/03, the CSYS (Certificate of Sixth Year Studies) has been completely replaced by Advanced Higher.
3.6 Standard Grade is certificated at 3 levels: Credit (grades 1 and 2), General (grades 3 and 4), Foundation (grades 5 and 6) with a grade 7 being awarded to those who complete the course only.
3.7 For Intermediates, Higher and Advanced Higher awards at A-C are regarded as passes. A grade D is counted as a near miss and is not included as an SCQF pass. It is however, taken account of in the UPS scale. Pupils who pass the examination but are not registered as passing all the units are included in the number of presentations but not in the number of passes. Access clusters are awarded as either a pass or fail, and are not graded.
3.8 Data in some tables are presented as average tariff scores to enable certification of different types to be considered together. This makes it easier to compare average attainment for different subgroups within the population. The tariff score of a pupil is calculated by allocating a score to each level of qualification and award, using the Unified Points Score scale. For example, a Standard Grade at level 1 counts as 38 points and at level 4 counts as 14 points. Further information and a full list of SQA National Qualifications and their associated tariff scores is shown in Annex A.
3.9 Attainment is cumulative and takes into consideration all successful awards in previous years. In order to record the attainment of an entire cohort, attainment in S5 and S6 is reported as a percentage of the relevant S4 roll. For example, attainment in S5 in 2005/06 is calculated as a percentage of the September S4 roll in 2004. S6 attainment is calculated from the September S4 roll in 2003. The roll figures are available in a separate table (table 1).
3.10 The urban/rural classifications in this publication are based on the postcode of the school and not that of the pupil. The classifications are defined as follows:
Large urban areas - settlements over 125,000 population. This covers the city conurbations of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee.
Other urban areas - settlements of 10,000 to 125,000 people. Accessible small towns - settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more. Small remote towns - settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people, who are not within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more people. Accessible rural areas - settlements of less than 3,000 people and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more people Remote rural areas - settlements of less than 3,000 people who are not within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more people.
3.11 The ethnic background and national identity questions in the Census were completed by parents or pupils. Provision of this information was optional and no values were imputed by teachers. For national identity, pupils/parents were asked to state which nationality they considered themselves to be, rather than any legal definition.
3.12 When possible, the full list of ethnic background categories collected have been included in this publication. However, where the total number of pupils within a category are between 1 and 4 (inclusive) or where if shown it would be possible to calculate other values less than 5, this category is included in the "All Other Categories" figure. In Table 11, only categories containing a total of 100 pupils or more are shown separately. This is due to the small number of pupils that fall under each heading.
3.13 The arrangements for leaving school were laid down in the Education (Scotland) Act in 1976 and the Education (Scotland) Act 1980. Pupils are regarded as having left on achieving the school leaving age in 2005/06 if they either:
reached the age of 16 between 1 March and 30 September 2006 and left school at the end of the school year 2005/06; OR
reached the age of 16 between 1 October 2005 and the end of February 2006 and left school at the end of the winter term 2005/06.
These arrangements therefore allow some pupils to leave school while they are still 15 years old.
4. Notes
4.1 The pupil census is a snapshot from September of the school year, and doesn't account for any movements of students during the school year. The data relating to school leavers are the best that the schools are able to provide at the time, and are subject to subsequent slight revisions.
4.2 This publication links data from up to three separate sources using a pupil identifier. This process achieves a high rate of successful linkage, but in a small number of cases mis-matching or non-matching can occur. Table 4 reports on the attainment of 61,164 S4 pupils, out of a total S4 population of 61,190 at the pupil census date.
4.3 Figures on the number of pupils with a disability from the 2005 Pupil Census were known to be incomplete. This was the first year this information had been collected. As the data is incomplete, the figures should be interpreted with caution: it may be biased towards the lower or higher attaining group. However the remaining sample provides important information and allows detailed analysis to be started. The quality of the information has improved in the 2006 Pupil Census.
4.4 Figures on the number of looked after children from the 2005 Pupil Census were about 75 per cent of those reported in "Children's Social Work Statistics: 2005/06". This may be in part due to apparent problems schools have in keeping accurate information on the looked after status of pupils. As the data is incomplete, the figures should be interpreted with caution: it may be biased towards the lower or higher attaining group. However the remaining sample provides important information and allows more detailed analysis than available from any other source. The Executive is taking steps to improve the quality of reporting in future years. These include the Executive working together with local authority social work services and education departments in order to resolve the current inconsistencies being reported by schools and social work services with regards the number of looked after children.
4.5 Figures on the number of pupils receiving Gaelic medium education include those receiving education exclusively in Gaelic, a mixture of Gaelic/bilingual, or a mixture of Gaelic/English.
4.6 Boxplots have been used in order to show the spread in attainment of pupils. A brief explanation of boxplots and their use is contained in Annex B.
4.7 All percentages are rounded separately and breakdowns may consequently not sum to 100 per cent. It should be noted that percentages and average tariff scores calculated from small numbers may be misleading.
5. Enquiries
Public enquiries about the information contained in this Statistics Publication Notice should be addressed to:
Janet Lauchlan, Assistant Statistician, The Scottish Executive Education Department, Education Statistics, Area 1-B South, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ. Tel. (0131) 244 7976 or e-mail: educ.outcomes.stats@scotland.gsi.gov.uk