Education Outcomes for Looked After Children 2020/21

Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels

Headline results

• A lower proportion of looked after children achieve the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) level relevant to their stage compared with all children across all organisers (subjects). The size of the gap between looked after children and all children varies across the different subjects.
  • In reading 48% of children looked after within the last year obtained the CfE level relevant to their stage, compared with 75% of all children
  • In writing 40% of children looked after within the last year obtained the CfE level relevant to their stage, compared with 70% of all children
  • In listening and talking 60% of children looked after within the last year obtained the CfE level relevant to their stage, compared with 83% of all children
  • In numeracy 46% of children looked after within the last year obtained the CfE level relevant to their stage, compared with 75% of all children
• Achievement of CfE levels is lowest for those looked after at home and those looked after in residential accommodation.

This section presents data on the achievement of CfE levels for aspects of literacy (reading, writing, and listening and talking) and numeracy of the estimated 1,996 young people who were looked after at some point between 1 August 2020 and 31 July 2021, and who were in Primary 1, Primary 4 or Primary 7 during the 2020/21 school year. The national and local authority data used within this section covers pupils in publicly funded mainstream schools in the 32 local authorities, and one grant aided school.

Impact of COVID-19 on CfE Levels

For 2020/21 data was collected for Primary school (P1, P4 and P7) pupils only. Secondary school and special school data was not collected due to other pressures on these schools including implementation of the SQA National Qualifications Alternative Certification Model which was used to award National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers in 2021.

Comparison with CfE levels in 2018/19

Across all stages and organisers, the percentage of Primary 1, Primary 4 and Primary 7 children who achieved the CfE level relevant to their stage fell or stayed the same between 2018/19 and 2020/21 - for both children looked after within the last year, and all pupils (table 5.3).

For primary 1 pupils, the gap between the percentage of children look after in the last year who achieved the CfE level relevant to their stage and all pupils increased across all curriculum organisers between 2018/19 and 2020/21.

The opposite was true for Primary 4 and Primary 7 pupils, where the percentage point difference in achievement between children looked after in the last year and all pupils narrowed between 2018/19 and 2020/21.

Stage

(1) See background notes for information regarding the CfE levels relevant to a pupil's stage.

Across all stages and organisers, a lower proportion of children who were looked after within the year achieved the CfE level relevant to their stage compared with all pupils (Chart 6).

The proportion of children looked after within the year achieving the CfE level relevant for their stage is highest for listening and talking at all stages, and lowest for writing across all primary stages. This is also the case for all pupils, although with a higher proportion achieving the level relevant to their stage.

The gap between all pupils and those who were looked after within the year is lowest amongst P1 pupils (Early Level), with gap across the four organisers ranging from 19 to 25 percentage points. The gap was highest for P7 (First Level), where the gap ranges from 26 to 32 percentage points.

Type of placement

Achievement of CfE levels varies across the types of accommodation in which looked after children are placed. Generally, a higher proportion of pupils looked after within the year who lived in other community accommodation (including with prospective adopters) achieved the CfE level relevant to their stage across most organisers than in other placement types. (Table 5.1).

A lower proportion of pupils at home with parents achieved the CfE level relevant to their stage compared with all pupils looked after within the last year.

(1) See background notes for information regarding the CfE levels relevant to a pupil's stage.

(2) Cells containing * represent small numbers that have been suppressed to maintain confidentiality.

(3) Includes supported accommodation and with prospective adopters.

(4) Includes in residential school, in secure care accommodation, and crisis care.

Number of placements

A higher proportion of pupils looked after within the year who had two placements over the year achieved the CfE level relevant to their stage than those with 1 and 3 or more placements (Table 5.2). This pattern was consistent across all curriculum organisers.

(1) See background notes for information regarding the CfE levels relevant to a pupil's stage.