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Indicators of Progress 2003

Milestone 3: Increasing the proportion of our children who attain the appropriate levels in reading, writing and maths by the end of Primary 2 and Primary 7

This milestone is measured directly by 6 indicators from the national survey of 5-14 Attainment Levels which is carried out by the Scottish Executive.

P2 and P7 Attainment for 1998/99 to 2001/02

The proportion of children attaining the appropriate levels of reading, writing and mathematics by the end of P2 and P7 has risen each year since 1998/99.

At P2 there are significant differences in attainment by subject. A significantly higher proportion of pupils reach the appropriate 5-14 attainment level in mathematics, with attainment in writing being the lowest, by the end of P2. Looking at P7 attainment, the proportion attaining or exceeding Level D in writing is significantly lower than for reading and mathematics.

The guidelines set out in 5-14 Curriculum Guidelines: Structure and Balance of the Curriculum state that Level A should be attainable in the course of P1-P3 by almost all (90 per cent) pupils, and Level D should be attainable by some pupils in P5-P6 or even earlier, but certainly by most (75 per cent) in P7.

As level A should be attained by almost all pupils by the end of P3, information on P3 attainment at level A is also included in order to provide a more complete picture of 5-14 attainment at this level.

Chart 3a: Percentage of Pupils attaining or exceeding 5-14 Attainment Levels by the end of P2 and P7, 1998/99 - 2001/02

Source: National 5-14 Attainment Levels : Scottish Executive

It is clear from looking at the 5-14 results that testing to confirm teachers' judgements of the 5-14 level of attainment reached by P2 pupils is not being carried out uniformly across schools in Scotland. Therefore, information on P3 attainment at Level A is also included in order to obtain a more complete and accurate picture of 5-14 attainment at this Level. Chart 3b shows that as in P2, attainment between 1998/99 and 2001/02 has risen across each subject. However, attainment of Level A or above in writing is still lower than in reading and mathematics.

Chart 3b: Percentage of Pupils attaining or exceeding 5-14 Attainment Levels by the end of P3, 1998/99 - 2001/02

Source: National 5-14 Attainment Levels : Scottish Executive

Gender analysis

There continues to be a gap in attainment rates between girls and boys at both P2 and P7 - with higher proportions of girls achieving the appropriate levels at P2 and P7. The proportion of boys achieving the appropriate attainment levels has increased between 1998/99 and 2001/02, but the levels for girls have increased at a similar rate. There is no evidence that the gap is closing.

Although there are gaps in attainment rates at both P2 and P7, the gap between girls and boys is widest at P7. In terms of subject, the gap between boys and girls is narrowest for mathematics at both P2 and P7.

Table 3c: Percentage of pupils attaining or exceeding 5-14 Attainment Levels by the end of P2, P3 and P7 by sex, 1998/99 - 2001/02

Urban Rural analysis

The results for 2001/02 show that in general a slightly higher proportion of pupils based in schools located in 'Accessible Rural' and 'Remote Rural' obtain or exceed the appropriate 5-14 attainment levels by the end of P2 and P7.

In general, between 1998/99 and 2001/02 the gaps between urban and rural areas have narrowed. It should be noted that differences based on geography are relatively small.

Table 3d: Percentage of pupils attaining or exceeding 5-14 Attainment Level, by the end of P2, P3 and P7, by urban and rural area, 1998/99 - 2001/02

Interim Scottish Multiple Index of Deprivation analysis

The results show that there are gaps in P2 and P7 attainment levels between the most and least deprived electoral wards. For example, the primary schools located in the least deprived wards have just over 60 per cent of P2 pupils attaining or exceeding Level A in reading, compared to some 45 per cent of P2 pupils in the most deprived wards.

Comparing the attainment levels by relatively deprived electoral wards for 1998/99 and 2001/02 (Table 3g), there is evidence that the largest increases in attainment levels are within the schools located in the most deprived areas and the gap between the attainment rates within the most and least deprived areas is closing.

This analysis is based on the interim Scottish Multiple Index of Deprivation (SMID) which is a relative measure of area deprivation. SMID ranks electoral wards by combining deprivation information on income, employment, health and disability, education, skills and training, and geographical access to services. For this analysis, the SMID 2003 wards are assigned to population weighted deprivation quintiles, and the most deprived wards containing 20 per cent of Scotland's population are assigned to deprivation quintile 1. Each primary school is then assigned to the deprivation quintile of the ward it is located in.

Chart 3e: Percentage of pupils attaining or exceeding 5-14 Attainment Level, by the end of P2 and P7, by interim Scottish Multiple Index of Deprivation, 2001/02

Source: National 5-14 attainment levels: Scottish Executive

Background information

The following background data corresponds to the charts and commentary included in this milestone.

Table 3f: Percentage of pupils attaining 5-14 levels of attainment by the end of P2, P3 and P7, 1998/99 - 2001/02

Source: National 5-14 Attainment Levels : Scottish Executive

Table 3g: Percentage of pupils attaining 5-14 levels of attainment by the end of P2 and P7, by interim Scottish Multiple Index of Deprivation, 1998/99 and 2001/02

Availability of data and references

Information is also available at Local Authority level. Information is not available disaggregated by ethnicity or disability.

As part of a major project called the 'Scottish Exchange of Educational Data (ScotXED)', the Scottish Executive are replacing many of its current statistical collections which give aggregated information at school with collections based on individual pupil level data. This first exchange of ScotXED pupil level data started in September 2002 with the annual School Census. Information on 5-14 attainment levels, confirmed by national tests, for most local authorities were collected at pupil level through this project in June 2003.

One of the commitments within the Partnership Agreement is to provide more time for learning by simplifying and reducing assessment, ending the current system of national tests for 5-14 year olds. It has also been proposed that improvements in the overall attainment of pupils will in future be measured through broad surveys rather than relying on the national tests. The Scottish Executive has recently released a consultation paper on this issue, and the future of 5-14 data collection is subject to the views received. However, it is likely that the survey will continue in its current form for at least the 2003/04 collection.

5-14 Curriculum Guidelines: Structure and Balance of the Curriculum

5-14 Attainment in Publicly Funded Schools 2001/2002 (by June 2002)
www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00211-00.asp

Scottish Indices of Deprivation 2003
www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/social/siods-00.asp

Assessment, Testing and Reporting 3-14: CONSULTATION ON PARTNERSHIP COMMITMENTS (25 September 2003)
www.scotland.gov.uk/publications

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