Chapter 3  Achievement of CfE Levels by pupil characteristics

Sex

In 2023-24, female pupils outperformed male pupils across all literacy organisers at all stages. The biggest difference was in writing where there was a ten percentage point gap at primary stages combined and a four percentage point gap at S3 (third level or better).

For numeracy, there was very little difference between female and male pupils. For primary stages combined there was a one percentage point gap and no gap at S3 level.

For literacy as a whole, female pupils outperformed male pupils by ten percentage points at primary stages combined and the gap for S3 pupils at Third Level or better was five percentage points.

Chart 5: Females outperformed males across all organisers in literacy, but there was little difference in numeracy

Percentage of pupils achieving expected CfE levels, by sex and stage, 2023-24

Ethnicity

The majority of pupils in the Achievement of CfE Levels data collection were White – Scottish (71 per cent of all pupils), followed by White – non-Scottish (13 per cent of all pupils). The remaining ethnic groups each made up 2.5 per cent or less of all pupils. The relative sizes of these groups of pupils should be kept in mind when interpreting results.

For primary pupils, performance was highest for those of an Asian - Chinese background. 83 per cent achieved the expected level in literacy and 94 per cent in numeracy. This pattern has been broadly consistent over time.

Chart 6: Asian Chinese primary pupils performed best in literacy and numeracy

Percentage of P1, P4 and P7 pupils combined achieving literacy and numeracy CfE levels, by ethnicity, 2023-24

Chart 7: Asian Indian pupils performed best in literacy and Asian Chinese pupils performed best in numeracy at S3 level

Percentage of S3 pupils achieving Third Level or better by ethnicity, 2023-24

Additional Support Need (ASN) status

Table 3: The percentage of pupils recorded as having an Additional Support Need increased throughout the stages

Percentage of pupils recorded as having an Additional Support Need by stage, 2023-24

The number of pupils identified with additional support needs (ASN) has increased markedly over a number of years and there continues to be year on year increases (see Table 1.5 of the pupil census supplementary tables). These increases were likely due in part to continued improvements in recording and the introduction of the additional need types 'Child plans' and ‘Other’ in 2011. This should be kept in mind when interpreting Achievement of CfE Levels data by Additional Support Needs.

Chart 8: Differences in attainment of pupils with and without a record of additional support needs were greater at primary stages than at S3

Percentage of pupils achieving expected CfE levels by additional support needs and stage, 2023-24

The percentage of pupils achieving the expected CfE level was lower for pupils recorded as having an ASN compared to pupils without a recorded ASN, across all stages and organisers.

For all organisers the difference in performance between pupils with and without a recorded ASN was greater in the primary stages than at S3 (third level or better). The biggest differences occurred in writing. There was a gap of 30 percentage points at primary stages combined and 15 percentage points at S3 (third level or better).

English as an Additional Language (EAL) status

Around seven per cent of pupils in the 2023-24 data collection were recorded as having English as an Additional Language (EAL).

The percentage of pupils achieving the expected CfE level was lower for pupils with English as an additional language than for those with English as their main language across most stages and organisers.

The gap was lowest in numeracy. At primary stages combined the gap in numeracy performance was three percentage points. However, S3 pupils with EAL performed better than their counterparts at Third Level or better, and Fourth Level, by three percentage points. 

Chart 9: Pupils with English as an additional language performed less well in literacy across all stages but better in numeracy at S3

Chart 10: Attainment of expected levels was highest in accessible rural areas and lowest in remote small towns

Percentage of pupils achieving expected CfE levels, by urban rural classification and stage, 2023-24

Detailed results by Urban Rural Classification can be found in the supplementary tables.