Schools in Scotland and CfE Achievement

Teacher numbers have increased by 543 leading to an improved overall pupil teacher ratio and broadly stable primary class sizes. Meanwhile new data based on teacher judgement of pupils’ Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels shows that between 69% and 85% of pupils in primary schools achieved the relevant CfE level in aspects of literacy and numeracy.

Scotland’s Chief Statistician today published two releases on schools and education in Scotland.

Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland (National Statistics) provides the latest information on early learning and childcare, pupils, teachers, school estates, attendance and exclusions.

In 2017, the pupil teacher ratio (PTR) in all publicly funded schools reduced to 13.6 compared to 13.7 the previous year. The PTR increased to 13.8 excluding teachers funded through the Attainment Scotland Fund. The PTR gives a measure of the size of the teaching workforce compared with the pupil population.

The total full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers based in early learning and childcare, primary, secondary and special schools, or centrally employed, was 51,513, which is 543 FTE more than 2016 (666 FTE were funded through the Attainment Scotland Fund).

The figures suggest near universal uptake of early learning and childcare for eligible three and four year olds, as in the previous year; and there was a slight increase in the number of two year old registrations from 5,256 in 2016 to 5,363 in 2017.

The average class size for pupils in primary was 23.5, the same as the previous year. The percentage of these pupils who were in class sizes of 18 or fewer decreased slightly from 12.7% in 2016 to 12.2% in 2017.

The proportion of schools reported as being in good or satisfactory condition was 86% in April 2017, up from 84% the previous April.

Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels 2016-17 (Experimental Statistics) describes the achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels for pupils in P1, P4, P7 and S3 in reading, writing, listening & talking and numeracy. It reports on the proportion of pupils who have achieved the expected CfE level relevant to their stage, based on teacher professional judgements. 2016/17 data are not directly comparable to 2015/16 due to ongoing improvements in the underlying data quality.

The proportion of pupils achieving the CfE level relevant for their stage decreases throughout the primary stages. For example, in reading, 80% of P1 pupils achieved Early Level, 77% of P4 pupils achieved First Level and 76% of P7 pupils achieved Second Level.

The proportion of S3 pupils achieving CfE Third Level or better is between 88% and 91% for each organiser (i.e. reading, writing, listening and talking, and numeracy).

For each organiser, a higher proportion of pupils living in the least deprived areas achieve the CfE level relevant to their stage compared to pupils living in the most deprived areas (i.e. there is a deprivation ‘gap’) – for example the gap between pupils from the 20% most deprived areas and those from the 20% least deprived areas for writing at P7 was 22 percentage points.

The figures released today were produced in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Background

Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland brings together a wide range of information on school education and early learning and childcare provision in Scotland and covers: pupils, teachers, children in early learning and childcare, school estates, attendance and exclusions.

Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels contains achievement data based on all pupils in publicly funded Primary 1, Primary 4, Primary 7 and Secondary 3 classes and for all pupils based in special schools/units.

Scotland’s Chief Statistician is also publishing school level data on Achievement of CfE Levels.

For primary schools, the published results are for P1, P4 and P7 stages. For secondary schools, the published results are based on achievement of CfE Third Level or better.  They therefore represent the proportion of S3 pupils in the school who have achieved ‘Third Level or better’.

All school level results will be presented in ten per cent bandings (i.e. under 10%, 10% – under 20% etc.). To prevent potential disclosure of information relating to individual pupils within schools, any schools in which the relevant cohort contains 20 or fewer pupils will be suppressed. 

Further information on school statistics within Scotland is available online.

Official statistics are produced in accordance with professional standards.