Scottish Government

5-14 ATTAINMENT IN PUBLICLY FUNDED SCHOOLS 2002/03 (by June 2003)

9 December 2003
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 2003 from all publicly funded primary and secondary schools in Scotland. This Publication Notice 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 three under Background Notes for more detail of attainment target levels).

The main findings (by June 2003) are:

• There have been further significant increases in levels of attainment in English writing at all stages, as well as in English reading for pupils in later stages. Mathematics, and English reading at earlier stages, have also improved although by less than in previous years. ( Tables 1 to 8)
• The percentage of pupils attaining target levels in all subjects was generally higher in early primary stages than in later primary and early secondary stages. ( Tables 1 to 8)
• For almost every stage, more pupils attained target levels in English reading and mathematics than in English writing. ( Tables 1 to 8)
• The percentage of pupils attaining Level A or above in P2 and P3 in mathematics was substantially higher than the percentage of pupils attaining Level A or above in English reading and English writing. ( Tables 1 and 2)
• However, the percentage of pupils attaining the target levels in English reading, for stages P4 to S2, was higher than for mathematics and English writing. ( Tables 3 to 8)
• Of those pupils who have attained Level A or above, the percentage whose level was confirmed by National Testing was over 94 per cent for all subjects in all stages. ( Tables 1 to 8)
• The percentage of pupils attaining targets levels was higher for females than males, for all subjects and stages. The difference is generally larger for the later primary and early secondary stages than for early primary stages. It is also larger for English reading and writing than mathematics. ( Table 9)

The following tables and charts are available:

Table 1 to Table 8 - National attainment summary of P2 to S2 pupils, by stage, for English reading, English writing, mathematics, by June in 1999/00, 2000/01, 2001/02 and 2002/03 school years.
Table 9 - National attainment summary of P3, P4, P6, P7 and S2 pupils, by gender, for English reading, English writing and mathematics, by June 2002/03.
Table 10 - Attainment summary of P2-S2 pupils, by stage, for English reading, by local authority, by June in 2001/02 and 2002/03 school years.
Table 11 - Attainment summary of P2-S2 pupils, by stage, for English writing, by local authority, by June in 2001/02 and 2002/03 school years.
Table 12 - Attainment summary of P2-S2 pupils, by stage, for mathematics, by local authority, by June in 2001/02 and 2002/03 school years.
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, 2001/02 and 2002/03 school years.

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. 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 information required for the 2002/03 survey was collected via two methods:

• Electronically, for the majority of local authorities, as part of the Scottish Exchange of Educational Data (ScotXed) Programme;
• On paper forms for those establishments unable to submit data electronically in the standard format.

3. 5-14 guidance states the following with respect to attainment target levels ( Curriculum and Assessment in Scotland, National Guidelines, English Language 5-14, June 1991, page 9):

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.

4. 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 and 2002/03 results, but were excluded in previous years due to problems with data definitions and data consistency.

5. For 2002/03 results, the percentage of assessments confirmed by National Testing is based on the number of those pupils who have attained Level A or better. In previous years, it was based on all pupils, except those recorded as level not available (i.e. pupils for whom an assessment cannot or should not be made).

6. Results for 2001/02 have been revised since they were last published due to slight corrections in the data

7. Enquiries: Copies of the tables are available on the Scottish Executive's website at www.scotland.gov.uk. Public enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this Statistics Publication Notice should be addressed to Emma Milburn, Statistician, The Scottish Executive Education Department, Education Statistics, Area 1-A West, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ. Tel. 0131 244 0303 or e-mail to: educ.outcomes.stats@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Media enquiries about the information in this Statistics Publication Notice should be addressed to John Booth (0131 244 4001).