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NEWS RELEASE
5-14 Attainment in Publicly Funded Schools 2001/2002 (by June 2002)

4 December 2002

A Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication

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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 Scottish Executive.

The information was collected in June 2002 from all publicly funded primary and secondary schools in Scotland. This news release updates the figures published in January 2002 in the news release 5-14 Attainment in Publicly Funded Schools 2000/01 (by June 2001).

This News Release provides 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. [Please read paragraph 3 under 'Notes to News Editors' for more detail of attainment target levels.]

The main findings are (by June 2002):

• For P2 pupils, the percentage that were assessed and attained Level A or above was 75.1% in mathematics, 50.8% in English reading and 38.5% in English writing. This represents an increase from June 2001 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 73.5%, 48.8% and 33.3% respectively. ( Table 1). [Please read paragraph 2 under 'Notes to News Editors' for specific issues affecting P2 results.]
• For P3 pupils, the percentage that attained Level A or above was 95.1% in mathematics, 87.4% in English reading and 84.6% in English writing. This represents an increase from June 2001 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 94.9%, 87.2% and 82.8% respectively. ( Table 2)
• For P4 pupils, the percentage that attained Level B or above was 78.5% in mathematics, 80.3% in English reading and 73.8% in English writing. This represents an increase from June 2001 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 77.0%, 78.7% and 70.9% respectively. ( Table 3)
• For P5 pupils, the percentage that attained Level B or above was 91.7% in mathematics, 91.7% in English reading and 87.6% in English writing. This represents an increase from June 2001 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 90.4%, 90.5% and 85.6% respectively. ( Table 4)
• For P6 pupils, the percentage that attained Level C or above was 78.6% in mathematics, 84.5% in English reading and 73.1% in English writing. This represents an increase from June 2001 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 78.0%, 82.9% and 71.3% respectively. ( Table 5)
• For P7 pupils, the percentage that attained Level D or above was 68.5% in mathematics, 72.0% in English reading and 59.2% in English writing. This represents an increase from June 2001 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 67.0%, 70.3% and 56.3% respectively. ( Table 6)
• For S1 pupils, the percentage that attained Level D or above was 70.0% in mathematics, 73.2% in English reading and 65.5% in English writing. This represents an increase from June 2001 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 68.1%, 70.5% and 62.7% respectively. ( Table 7)
• For S2 pupils, the percentage that attained Level E or above was 53.6% in mathematics, 58.9% in English reading and 49.8% in English writing. This represents an increase from June 2001 in all three subjects where the corresponding figures were 51.2%, 56.4% and 45.9% respectively. ( Table 8)
• For P2 to P7 pupils in Gaelic medium classes, a lower proportion of pupils were attaining the 5-14 Level relevant to their stage in Gaelic reading and Gaelic writing compared with the equivalent results for English reading and English writing in each of these stages. ( Tables 1 to 8)
• As in previous years, the percentage of pupils attaining target levels in all subjects by June 2002 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 English writing by June 2002 was generally lower than the percentage of pupils attaining target levels in English 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 2002 was substantially higher than the percentage of pupils attaining Level A or above in English reading and English writing.
• However, by June 2002, the percentage of pupils attaining the target levels in English reading, for stages P4 to S2, was higher than for mathematics. ( Tables 1 to 8)
• By June 2002, 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 42.5% to 95.1%. ( Tables 1 to 8)
• There has largely been an increase in the percentage of pupils whose attainment levels have been confirmed by National Testing between June 2001 and June 2002 across each subject and stage. ( Tables 1 to 8)
• The percentage of S2 pupils attaining Level E or above has increased between 2000/01 and 2001/02 for most local authorities, across all subjects. However, a number of local authorities have experienced falls in the percentage of P3, P4, P6 and P7 pupils attaining or exceeding 5-14 levels relevant to their stage across all subjects. [Please read paragraph 4 under 'Notes to News Editors' for specific issues affecting year-on-year comparisons.]

TABLES

Table 1 to Table 8 - Attainment Summary of P2 to S2 pupils, by stage, for English reading, English writing, mathematics, Gaelic reading and Gaelic writing in Scotland, by June in 1999/00, 2000/01 and 2001/02 school years.

Tables 9 - Attainment Summary of P2-S2 pupils, by stage, for English reading, by local authority, by June in 2000/01 and 2001/02 school years.

Tables 10 - Attainment Summary of P2-S2 pupils, by stage, for English writing, by local authority, by June in 2000/01 and 2001/02 school years.

Tables 11 - Attainment Summary of P2-S2 pupils, by stage, for mathematics, by local authority, by June in 2000/01 and 2001/02 school years.

CHARTS

Chart 1 to Chart 3 - Attainment of P3, P4, P6, P7, and S2 pupils in Scotland, for English reading, English writing and mathematics, by June in 1999/00, 2000/01 and 2001/02 school years.

NOTES TO NEWS EDITORS

2. 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 each June thereafter. However, results from the June 1998 survey are not considered to be of sufficient quality to be published.
4. 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.
6. 5-14 guidance states the following with respect to attainment target levels:

7. The attainment targets are based on the following descriptions of levels of attainment

   Level A should be attainable in the course of P1-P3 by almost all pupils.

   Level B should be attainable by some pupils in P3 or even earlier, but certainly by most in P4.

   Level C should be attainable in the course of P4-P6 by most pupils.

   Level D should be attainable by some pupils in P5-P6 or even earlier, but certainly by most in P7.

   Level E should be attainable by some pupils in P7/S1, but certainly by most in S2.

   [Reference: Curriculum and Assessment in Scotland, National Guidelines, English Language 5-14, June 1991, page 9.]

8. Users of the 5-14 results are advised to apply caution when considering year-on-year comparisons in the results for some authorities as data collected from Gaelic Medium education establishments are included in the 2001/02 results, but were excluded in previous years due to problems with data definitions and data consistency.
10. Results for 2000/01 have been revised since they were last published due to slight revisions in the data
12. 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.

13. Enquiries

14. Public enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this News Release should be addressed to Gary Sutton, Statistician, Scottish Executive Education Department, Area 1A-West, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ. Telephone 0131 244 0323 or email gary.sutton@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
16. Media enquiries about the information in this News Release should be addressed to Rona Dunbar: 0131 244 2670

News Release

4 December 2002

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