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Social Focus on Women and Men 2002

chapter six: Education and Training

Education in Scotland has a long tradition, with the first university in Scotland producing graduates almost 600 years ago. The experiences gained throughout education should provide our children and young people with the necessary skills to participate fully in an increasingly complex world. One of the National Priorities in Education (2000) is to equip pupils with the foundation skills, attitudes and expectations necessary to prosper in a changing society and to encourage creativity and ambition.

Tied in with the need to produce an increasingly skilled workforce has been the commitment to develop a truly inclusive educational system. This has been taken forward by building on the provision of free compulsory schooling for children aged 5 to 16 together with more recent initiatives on improving access to pre-school facilities, widening opportunities for students and developing life long learning opportunities for adult learners.

There is evidence of gender differences at all stages of education, from pre-school onwards, with girls tending to perform better than boys. However, it is important to recognise that average figures for attainment conceal many differences between groups of pupils: some males achieve very high levels of attainment, and some females fail to achieve any examination awards. Research has highlighted far greater differences in school experiences between high-achievers and low-achievers of both sexes, and between those from advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds, than between the sexes. Other factors which can influence gender differences include parental attitudes and roles; cultural expectations of men and women; post-school opportunities; gender inequalities in the workplace; curriculum content and assessment methods; teacher-pupil relationships; classroom interactions; teaching styles; and peers attitudes and behaviour.

Pre-school provision

Childcare and pre-school education lies at the heart of the Government's agenda for children's well-being and achievement. However, research conducted by the Centre for Educational Sociology shows gender differences in attainment in reading and mathematics are not apparent at entry to P1 but become apparent by the end of P1.

All children are entitled to a free, part-time pre-school place from the term after their third birthday. At January 2001, there were 99,000 children receiving pre-school education in Scotland, generally in places funded directly by the Scottish Executive. Overall, slightly more boys than girls attend pre-school education - 52 per cent of attendees are boys. However, 51 out of every 100 babies born in Scotland are boys and therefore the gender effect is very small. The only significant difference in pre-school education uptake between boys and girls is in the pre-school year where entry to primary school has been deferred. In this group 63 per cent of places are taken by boys, compared with 37 per cent of girls, although overall numbers are small.

The most recent figures available, taken from local authority grant application data, are for June 2001 and record that 105,000 3 and 4 year olds were attending nursery or pre-school. This means that 97 per cent of 4 year olds and 80 per cent of 3 year olds who are eligible, attend nursery or pre-school.

Primary level education

In 1872, the Education (Scotland) Act established the responsibility of parents to see that all children between the ages of 5 and 13 received education. Children usually start their compulsory education in the August when they are aged between 42 and 52 with entry to primary school.

In the academic year 2000-01, there were nearly 437 thousand pupils attending publicly funded and independent primary schools in Scotland. Of these, around 97 per cent attend publicly funded schools - and this percentage has remained fairly constant over recent years. Over the last couple of years there has been a 2.9 per cent fall in the number of primary school children attending publicly funded and independent primary schools, due to a fall in the population for this age group over this time. The rate of decline in primary school rolls is fairly evenly split between boys and girls (3.1 percent decrease for boys, 2.7 per cent decrease for girls).

Differences between boys and girls in the experiences and outcomes of school education have been a focus of concern in Scottish education for nearly 30 years. More recently, the focus on raising standards in Scotland's schools has highlighted gender differences in attainment - particularly that the average level of attainment in school examinations for boys is lower than that for girls. However, there is a complex pattern of gender differences in schools, as recent research is increasingly focusing on.

Evidence from the Early Intervention Programme (EIP) shows that, on average, girls had higher reading scores than boys at the start of P1, and at the end of P3. The Assessment of Achievement Programme (AAP) shows that girls are performing consistently better than boys in reading and writing at P4 and at P7. However, for mathematics the AAP shows there is no conclusive evidence at primary level of gender differences in attainment. These overall findings can, however, 'hide' some aspects of the gender differences in attainment. For example at P7 boys performed better than girls in mental calculation.

One of the current Government targets is aimed at increasing the proportion of children who attain the appropriate levels in reading, writing and maths by the end of P2 and P7. Data from the National Survey of 5-14 Attainment Levels shows that, based on a sample of primary schools, even by the end of P2 girls are performing better than boys in reading, writing, and maths - more girls than boys attain Level A or above in these three subject areas (Table 6.1).

Table 6.1: Percentage of pupils attaining National Test Levels by the end of P2
Percentage

Source: National Survey of 5-14 Attainment Levels : Scottish Executive

This pattern is continued into P3, although at this level the difference between boys and girls for mathematics is small (Table 6.2). By the end of P7, however, in terms of the percentages of boys and girls attaining Level D or above, girls continue to perform better than boys in reading, writing and mathematics, with substantially larger differences in reading and writing (Table 6.3).

These patterns of attainment are carried through to secondary education.

Table 6.2: Percentage of pupils attaining National Test Levels by the end of P3
Percentage

Source: National Survey of 5-14 Attainment Levels : Scottish Executive

Table 6.3: Percentage of pupils attaining National Test Levels by the end of P7
Percentage

^{Source: National Survey of 5-14 Attainment Levels : Scottish Executive}

Secondary Education

In the academic year 2000-01, there were over 335 thousand pupils attending publicly funded and independent secondary schools in Scotland. Of these, around 95 per cent attend publicly funded schools.

The AAP English Language Survey shows girls are performing consistently better than boys in reading and writing at S2. The AAP Science Survey shows there are no significant differences overall between the performance of boys and girls in science. However, within this, girls perform better than boys at some aspects, but boys perform better than girls in others. Similarly, there are no significant differences in the percentages of boys and girls attaining the target level of skills. However in the mean scores in skill-based tasks, girls performed significantly better than boys.

Data from the National Survey of 5-14 Attainment Levels shows that, based on all publicly funded secondary schools, by the end of S2 girls are performing better than boys in reading, writing, and maths - more girls than boys attain Level E or above in these three subject areas.

This continues the pattern seen throughout primary school, with substantially large differences in reading and writing, and a smaller difference in mathematics. (Table 6.4)

Table 6.4: Percentage of pupils attaining National Test Levels by the end of S2
Percentage

Source: National Survey of 5-14 Attainment Levels : Scottish Executive

Similarly, the AAP Sixth Survey of Mathematics 2000 shows that at S2 girls performed overall better than boys in mathematics (although girls and boys were equally represented in the lowest attainers). The gender gap in mathematics appears to be widening at the secondary level, as at P4 and P7 there are only small differences in the overall performances of boys and girls.

Gender differences at secondary school level are better documented through the Standard and Higher Grade examination results. Current levels of attainment by both girls and boys are significantly higher than they were 30 years ago. The most rapid improvements in attainment came after the shift from selective to comprehensive schooling in 1965 and the raising of the school-leaving age to 16 in 1973. It was reinforced by the introduction of Standard Grade from 1986. Research shows the gender gap opening up in favour of girls in 1975, with this gap widening until the early 90s.

More girls than boys gain 3 or more Highers and 5 or more Highers in S5, although at 5 or more Highers the difference between girls and boys is much smaller. In 1999-00, 29 percent of girls and 21 per cent of boys achieved 3 or more Higher Grades at A-C; 11 percent of girls and 9 per cent of boys achieved 5 or more Higher Grades at A-C. Though recent focus has been on the fact that girls out-perform boys in terms of school attainment, boys attainment has still been increasing. In recent years, the gender differences in attainment have remained almost constant.

School Leavers

Over the last 10 years, although the percentage of boys and girls leaving school at age 16 has been falling, boys are still more likely than girls to leave at the end of compulsory education (Chart 6.5). In 1998-99, of the school leavers leaving at the end of compulsory education, 32.4 per cent were boys compared with 24.0 per cent for girls. In the publicly funded schools, 33.7 per cent were boys and 25.0 per cent were girls. For the independent schools the percentages are 11.6 and 5.5 respectively. Some research suggests this may be because males tend to do better than females in the labour market (Interchange 70 Gender and Pupil Performance).

Chart 6.5: Percentage of pupils who left school at school leaving age 1988-89 to 1998-99
Percentage

For all school leavers a higher proportion of girls than boys achieve passes at all levels of qualification.

Although the number of boys leaving school with no qualifications has fallen from 5.8 per cent in 1996-97 to 4.9 per cent in 1998-99, there are still more boys than girls leaving compulsory schooling with no qualifications (equivalent figures are 4.4 per cent and 3.6 per cent for girls).

There are significant differences in qualifications gained between the publicly funded and independent schools. In 1998-99, 7.6 per cent of boys and 9.9 per cent of girls left with 5 or more higher grades (compared with 24.7 and 28.0 for independent schools). Although, the number of pupils leaving with no SQA qualifications is higher in independent schools than in publicly funded schools, many pupils in independent schools sit English examinations that are not included in these statistics.

There are also noticeable differences in the subjects sat by boys compared to girls. In general, girls are more likely to study subjects such as Art, Languages and Biology whereas boys opt for Physics and IT.

Special Educational Needs

In the academic year 2000-01, just under 9,400 pupils attended publicly funded and independent special schools (including a small number of special units). Of these, only 32.6 per cent were girls. This percentage is higher in publicly funded special schools (34.2 per cent) and lower in independent special schools (20.6 per cent). Of the pupils attending special schools, 10.5 per cent attended on a residential basis, with boys more likely to attend on this basis. The majority of residential attendance is in independent special schools. (Table 6.6)

Table 6.6: Pupils in Special Schools, by sector, sex and mode of attendance
Number and percentage

Source: Scottish Executive

In 2000-01, 27 per cent of pupils in special schools (independent and publicly funded schools) had 'moderate learning difficulty' recorded as their main difficulty in learning (25 per cent of boys and 30 per cent of girls). A further 18 per cent of had 'social, emotional and behavioural difficulties' (22 per cent of boys compared with only 9 per cent of girls).

Information on the main difficulty of learning for pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN) based in mainstream schools is also collected for those SEN pupils who have a Record of Need (RoN). In 2000-01, the main difficulties in learning recorded by pupils with a RoN in publicly funded primary schools are 'moderate learning difficulties' (20 per cent of boys and 28 per cent of girls); 'significant language and communication disorders' (18 per cent of boys and 11 per cent of girls); and 'autistic spectrum disorder' (16 per cent of boys and 7 per cent of girls).

In 2000-01, 33 per cent of SEN pupils in publicly funded secondary schools with a RoN had 'moderate learning difficulties' recorded as their main difficulty in learning (29 per cent of boys and 40 per cent of girls). A further 26 per cent had 'specific learning difficulty in language and/or mathematics (including dyslexia)' (29 per cent of boys and 19 per cent of girls).

Exclusions from School

During 1999-00 there were 38,769 exclusions from Local Authority primary, secondary, and special schools in Scotland; 85 per cent from secondary schools, 12 per cent from primary schools and 3 per cent from special schools. Over 99 per cent of all exclusions were temporary. Overall, boys accounted for around 81 per cent of all exclusions. By sector, boys accounted for around 92 per cent of exclusions from primary schools, 79 per cent from secondary schools and 87 per cent from special schools. Of all exclusions with known circumstances, around a quarter involved general or persistent disobedience, 16 per cent involved verbal abuse of members of staff, and 13 per cent involved physical abuse of fellow pupils (Chart 6.7 and 6.8).

Chart 6.7: Exclusions from Local Authority primary schools, by stage and gender
Number

Chart 6.8: Exclusions from Local Authority secondary schools, by stage and gender
Number

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