1  Curriculum for Excellence (CfE)

The publication provides information on the proportion of school pupils who have achieved the expected Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels in literacy and numeracy relevant to their stage.

Achievement of CfE level data are based on teachers’ professional judgements of individual pupil performance (see Section 5.2 for more information). The data reflect what pupils had achieved by the end of the school year – i.e. June 2024.

Figures are based on pupils in publicly funded mainstream schools in the 32 local authorities, grant aided and special schools. Pupils’ stages are based on approximate age ranges. Data are collected for pupils in the stages:

From these, a combined primary figure (P1, P4 and P7) has also been calculated. 

A small number of pupils (in both mainstream and special schools) for whom the teacher has been unable to make a professional judgement are not included.

Data are collected on pupil performance in four areas, known as organisers:

The achievement of ‘literacy’ is also included in the publication (for English and for Gàidhlig). A pupil is reported to have achieved the expected level in literacy if they have achieved the expected level in all three of the literacy organisers: reading, writing, and listening and talking. For more information on how this has been calculated, see Section 4.5.

The publication mainly focuses on the organisers based in the English language and Numeracy. For pupils based in Gaelic medium schools/classes, the English language organisers are collected at relevant stages and are included in the national and local authority data.  Information on achievement of CfE levels in Gàidhlig can be found in Chapter 5 of the main report. For more information about Gaelic medium education, see Section 4.6.