Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence levels: 2021/22

Chapter 8: Glossary

Additional Support Needs (ASN):

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) Scotland Act 2004 (as amended) states that a child or young person has an additional support need where they need additional support in order to benefit from school education.

Broad General Education (BGE):

The Broad General Education is the first phase of Curriculum for Excellence. It begins in early learning and childcare and continues to the end of S3 (the third year of secondary school).

Code of Practice for Statistics:

The Code of Practice for Statistics provides producers of official statistics with the detailed practices they must commit to when producing and releasing official statistics.

Curriculum for Excellence (CfE):

Curriculum for Excellence is Scotland's curriculum. It helps our children and young people gain the knowledge, skills and attributes needed for life in the 21st century.

English as an Additional Language (EAL):

Refers to pupils for whom English is a second or additional language.

Gaelic Medium Education:

Gaelic Medium Education is a form of education in Scotland that allows pupils to be taught through the medium of Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig), with English being taught as the secondary language.

Grant Aided School:

Schools that are directly financially supported by the Scottish Government and follow the Curriculum for Excellence but are independent from local authorities. Grant aided schools are not equivalent to schools termed 'academies' in some parts of the UK.

Grant aided special schools provide for young people with a wide range of ASN. There are seven Grant aided special schools in Scotland.

Government Statistical Service:

The Government Statistical Service (GSS) is a cross-government network led by the National Statistician. The GSS works to provide advice, analysis and a statistical evidence base to help people make better decisions.

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD):

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation identifies small area concentrations of multiple deprivation across Scotland.

Least deprived:

Pupils whose home address is in the 20% of least deprived data zones (small areas) as defined by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Most deprived:

Pupils whose home address is in the 20% of most deprived data zones (small areas) as defined by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

National Improvement Framework (NIF):

The National Improvement Framework (NIF) is Scottish Government policy to ensure children and young people develop a broad range of skills and capacities, whilst supporting them to thrive, regardless of their social circumstances or additional needs.

Organiser:

The ACEL data collection collects information on pupil performance in four areas, known as organisers. Organisers consist of Numeracy and the three literacy components: Reading, Writing and Listening and Talking. A combined literacy measure is also produced based on the three literacy organisers: reading, writing and listening and talking (see Section 9.1.3.2).

Pupil Census data:

A Scottish Government data collection, collecting a range of information and statistics on school pupils in Scotland. For more information see School education statistics.

Publicly funded mainstream school:

Schools which are run and financed by the local authority and grant-aided schools.

Special schools:

Most children with additional support needs are educated in mainstream schools but some with complex or specific needs are educated in special schools.

Urban Rural Classification:

The Urban Rural Classification is an Official Statistic used to distinguish between rural and urban areas. Within this publication the Urban Rural Classification 2016 has been used. For more information see Scottish Government Urban Rural Classification 2016

Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA):

School children in P1, P4, P7 and S3 complete online standardised assessments in literacy and numeracy as part of everyday learning and teaching. The assessments help to identify children's progress, providing diagnostic information to support teachers' professional judgement. More information can be found on Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA) website.