|
|
|
|
3.1 The SCE Standard Grade was first introduced to replace the Ordinary Grade in 1986 and by 1992 had fully replaced the Ordinary Grade. There are 7 levels of award for Standard Grade: Credit (grades 1 and 2), General (grades 3 and 4) and Foundation (grades 5 and 6). Award at grade 7 is for those who complete the course only. For National Certificate modules, which were introduced in 1983, an award is given for successful completion.
3.2 Different practices have emerged in analysing Standard Grade awards. For the purposes of the HMI Audit Unit report, school target setting, and information on school performance provided to parents, awards are analysed according to the levels 1-2 ,1-4 and 1-6. For other purposes, eg national training targets and national publications, it has been customary to assess the number of awards at levels 1-3 and 4-7.
3.3 Tables 1 and 2 show recent trends in performance at S4 and S5 in school examinations. The Standard Grade awards are shown at levels 1-2, 1-4, 1-6 (this may also be written as @ 1-2, @ 1-4 and @ 1-6). Figures for individual publicly funded schools are shown in the HMI Audit Unit report ‘Examination Results in Scottish Schools 1996-98’.
3.4 In 1997-98, 33 per cent of pupils in S4 gained 5 or more Standard Grades @ 1-2. The percentages achieving 5 or more Standard Grades @ 1-4 and @ 1-6 were 74 per cent and 90 per cent respectively.
| Scottish Certificate of Education qualifications by stage: 1992-93 —1997-98 |
|
S4 Stage |
S5 Stage |
|||||||||
|
5+ Standard Grades |
3+ Highers |
5+ Highers |
||||||||
|
@ 1-2 |
% of S4 |
@ 1-4 |
% of S4 |
@ 1-6 |
% of S4 |
A-C |
% of S4 |
A-C |
% of S4 |
|
|
All secondary schools |
||||||||||
| 1992-93 |
14,848 |
25.3 |
39,509 |
67.4 |
50,912 |
86.9 |
12,579 |
21.1 |
4,471 |
7.5 |
| 1993-94 |
16,559 |
27.1 |
42,346 |
69.4 |
53,634 |
87.9 |
13,020 |
22.2 |
4,601 |
7.9 |
| 1994-95 |
18,819 |
29.2 |
45,501 |
70.6 |
56,811 |
88.2 |
13,637 |
22.4 |
4,751 |
7.8 |
| 1995-96 |
19,578 |
29.6 |
47,492 |
71.8 |
58,701 |
88.8 |
14,296 |
22.2 |
5,081 |
7.9 |
| 1996-97 |
20,172 |
31.1 |
47,652 |
73.5 |
58,182 |
89.7 |
14,415 |
21.8 |
4,924 |
7.4 |
| 1997-98 |
20,251 |
32.5 |
46,171 |
74.2 |
55,760 |
89.6 |
14,445 |
22.3 |
4,978 |
7.7 |
|
Publicly funded secondary schools (1) |
||||||||||
| 1992-93 |
12,991 |
23.0 |
37,081 |
67.1 |
48,433 |
87.6 |
10,765 |
19.2 |
3,400 |
6.1 |
| 1993-94 |
14,657 |
25.4 |
39,890 |
69.1 |
51,131 |
88.6 |
11,165 |
20.2 |
3,499 |
6.3 |
| 1994-95 |
16,790 |
27.5 |
43,002 |
70.4 |
54,266 |
88.8 |
11,774 |
20.4 |
3,612 |
6.3 |
| 1995-96 |
17,538 |
27.9 |
45,047 |
71.7 |
56,207 |
89.4 |
12,367 |
20.2 |
3,929 |
6.4 |
| 1996-97 |
18,160 |
29.5 |
45,217 |
73.3 |
55,663 |
90.3 |
12,483 |
19.9 |
3,799 |
6.0 |
| 1997-98 |
18,129 |
30.7 |
43,677 |
73.9 |
53,186 |
90.0 |
12,563 |
20.4 |
3,825 |
6.2 |
|
Independent secondary schools |
||||||||||
| 1992-93 |
1,857 |
56.5 |
2,428 |
73.8 |
2,479 |
75.4 |
1,814 |
50.4 |
1,071 |
29.8 |
| 1993-94 |
1,902 |
58.2 |
2,456 |
75.2 |
2,503 |
76.6 |
1,855 |
56.4 |
1,102 |
33.5 |
| 1994-95 |
2,029 |
61.4 |
2,499 |
75.7 |
2,545 |
77.1 |
1,863 |
57.0 |
1,139 |
34.9 |
| 1995-96 |
2,040 |
62.7 |
2,445 |
75.2 |
2,494 |
76.7 |
1,929 |
58.4 |
1,152 |
34.9 |
| 1996-97 |
2,012 |
63.4 |
2,435 |
76.7 |
2,519 |
79.3 |
1,932 |
59.4 |
1,125 |
34.6 |
| 1997-98 |
2,122 |
66.8 |
2,494 |
78.5 |
2,574 |
81.0 |
1,882 |
59.3 |
1,153 |
36.3 |
(1) Includes education authority, grant-aided and opted out schools.
3.5 Between 1992-93 and 1997-98, the level of award achieved by S4 pupils rose; the percentage achieving Standard Grade awards @ 1-2 increased from 25 to 33 per cent while the percentage achieving awards @ 1-4 increased from 67 to 74 per cent. Pupils in the independent sector achieved higher grades than those in the publicly funded sector; for example, 67 per cent of S4 pupils in independent schools achieved 5 or more Standard Grades @ 1-2 compared to 31 per cent in publicly funded schools in 1997-98. It should be noted that the percentages for independent schools shown in Table 1 are likely to be higher if schools which do not offer SQA qualifications are excluded.
3.6 As shown in Table 2, the percentage of S3 and S4 pupils with at least one success in National Certificate modules peaked at 42 per cent in 1994-95, but subsequently fell to 38 per cent in 1997-98. The percentage of the S5 and S6 roll with at least one success rose from 60 to 62 per cent of pupils between 1992-93 and 1997-98. (Figures for individual schools are shown in the Audit Unit report).
| Number of full successes in National Certificate modules by stage(1): 1992-93 to 1997-98 |
Table 2 |
|
Number of Module Successes |
Pupils in S3/S4 with at least one success as a % of the S3/S4 roll |
Pupils in S5/S6 with at least one success as a % of the S5/S6 roll |
||||||||
|
S3 Stage |
S4 Stage |
S5 Stage |
S6 Stage |
|||||||
|
1 or more |
3 or more |
1 or more |
3 or more |
1 or more |
3 or more |
1 or more |
3 or more |
|||
| 1992-93 |
20,820 |
2,502 |
26,942 |
3,110 |
30,383 |
18,841 |
11,954 |
4,939 |
39.6 |
60.2 |
| 1993-94 |
21,610 |
3,250 |
30,414 |
3,922 |
31,654 |
20,547 |
12,674 |
5,318 |
41.2 |
61.4 |
| 1994-95 |
21,807 |
3,518 |
32,816 |
4,318 |
33,382 |
22,039 |
13,009 |
5,481 |
42.4 |
62.5 |
| 1995-96 |
20,920 |
3,316 |
34,368 |
4,497 |
34,629 |
22,807 |
13,763 |
5,980 |
41.9 |
62.5 |
| 1996-97 |
18,338 |
2,837 |
33,664 |
4,263 |
35,600 |
23,949 |
14,480 |
6,418 |
40.7 |
62.0 |
| 1997-98 |
16,670 |
2,481 |
31,230 |
4,118 |
34,748 |
24,022 |
15,203 |
6,767 |
38.3 |
62.3 |
(1) All secondary schools.
| National Certificate qualifications gained by S3 to S6 pupils: 1997-98 | Chart 2 |
3.7 Table 3 and Chart 2 show the distribution of the number of module successes by school stage in 1997-98. During 1997-98, around two-thirds of pupils in S5 had successes in NC modules compared with 50 per cent in S4 and 52 per cent in S6. The number of modules taken in S5 is also greater than at other stages; about 48 per cent of S5 pupils took 3 or more modules compared with 4 per cent of S3, 7 per cent of S4 and 23 per cent of S6.
| Distribution of number of full successes attained by pupils in National Certificate modules by stage: 1997-98 |
Table 3 |
|
Module Successes |
Total |
S3Stage |
% of S3 |
S4 Stage |
% of S4 |
S5 Stage |
% of S5 |
S6 Stage |
% of S6 |
|
Total |
97,851 |
16,670 |
26.6 |
31,230 |
50.2 |
34,748 |
68.2 |
15,203 |
52.2 |
|
1 |
42,509 |
10,376 |
16.5 |
21,282 |
34.2 |
5,664 |
11.1 |
5,187 |
17.8 |
|
2 |
17,954 |
3,813 |
6.1 |
5,830 |
9.4 |
5,062 |
9.9 |
3,249 |
11.1 |
|
3 |
10,652 |
1,519 |
2.4 |
2,304 |
3.7 |
4,566 |
9.0 |
2,263 |
7.8 |
|
4 |
7,104 |
622 |
1.0 |
866 |
1.4 |
4,028 |
7.9 |
1,588 |
5.4 |
|
5-9 |
15,386 |
299 |
0.5 |
833 |
1.3 |
11,633 |
22.8 |
2,621 |
9.0 |
|
10-14 |
3,706 |
19 |
0.0 |
89 |
0.1 |
3,321 |
6.5 |
277 |
1.0 |
|
15+ |
540 |
22 |
0.0 |
26 |
0.0 |
474 |
0.9 |
18 |
0.1 |
(1) Roll at September 1997.
|
|
|