PROGRAMME FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT 2000 - SCOTLAND ANALYSIS
Reading Material3. Scottish 15 year olds were much more likely to read magazines or newspapers than they were to read books. Reading patterns were similar in the rest of the UK, although in Scotland there was more reading of newspapers, with 80 per cent claiming to read newspapers at least several times a month. Those reading a large amount of fiction tended to score highest in the reading tests. Pupils reading a large amount of non-fiction, or reading from the internet also tended to perform well above average. Only the reading of comics failed to have a positive correlation with reading scores.
Table 29a Percentage and performance on the PISA reading literacy scale of students by responses to questions on reading material, Scotland
Proportion of 15 year olds who read the following for pleasure
| Scotland | Scotland |
Never or Hardly Ever | Up to once a month | At least several times a month | Never or Hardly Ever | Up to once a month | At least several times a month |
| Magazines | 4% | 27% | 69% | 495 | 528 | 529 |
| Comic books | 67% | 25% | 8% | 535 | 521 | 491 |
| Fiction | 27% | 44% | 29% | 476 | 533 | 569 |
| Non-fiction books | 32% | 49% | 19% | 490 | 545 | 548 |
| Emails and web-pages | 34% | 22% | 45% | 502 | 533 | 546 |
| Newspapers | 6% | 15% | 80% | 481 | 532 | 530 |
Table 29b Percentage and performance on the PISA reading literacy scale of students by responses to questions on reading material, UK
Mean reading score of 15 year olds who read the following for pleasure | UK | UK |
Never or Hardly Ever | Up to once a month | At least several times a month | Never or Hardly Ever | Up to once a month | At least several times a month |
| Magazines | 4% | 28% | 68% | 490 | 533 | 526 |
| Comic books | 68% | 24% | 7% | 530 | 531 | 484 |
| Fiction | 27% | 44% | 29% | 475 | 532 | 568 |
| Non-fiction books | 31% | 48% | 21% | 486 | 544 | 549 |
| Emails and web-pages | 29% | 23% | 48% | 497 | 526 | 546 |
| Newspapers | 8% | 21% | 71% | 494 | 524 | 531 |
Table 29c Percentage and performance on the PISA reading literacy scale of students by responses to questions on reading material, OECD
Mean reading score of 15 year olds who read the following for pleasure
| OECD | OECD |
Never or Hardly Ever | Up to once a month | At least several times a month | Never or Hardly Ever | Up to once a month | At least several times a month |
| Magazines | 7% | 28% | 66% | 439 | 493 | 513 |
| Comic books | 44% | 28% | 29% | 502 | 498 | 508 |
| Fiction | 27% | 44% | 28% | 465 | 509 | 529 |
| Non-fiction books | 36% | 46% | 18% | 480 | 517 | 513 |
| Emails and web-pages | 35% | 19% | 45% | 477 | 496 | 527 |
| Newspapers | 13% | 26% | 60% | 466 | 491 | 516 |
4. Twelve per cent of 15 year olds stated that there were no more than 10 books in their home. This figure is the same as the OECD average but lower than the UK as a whole. The number of books in a students home seemed to show a very strong correlation with reading test score in Scotland, UK and OECD.
Table 30 Percentage of students and performance on the PISA reading literacy scale, by number of books in their home, Scotland, UK & OECD
Proportion of 15 year olds and mean reading score of 15 year olds with the following number of books at home | Percentage | Mean reading score |
Scotland | UK | OECD | Scotland | UK | OECD |
| None | 1% | 1% | 2% | 400 | 396 | 386 |
| 1-10 | 11% | 7% | 10% | 458 | 447 | 430 |
| 11-50 | 25% | 21% | 22% | 502 | 494 | 474 |
| 51-100 | 20% | 21% | 21% | 525 | 514 | 499 |
| 101-250 | 21% | 21% | 21% | 550 | 547 | 527 |
| 201-500 | 12% | 15% | 14% | 579 | 568 | 546 |
| 500+ | 10% | 13% | 10% | 586 | 577 | 549 |