Scottish Attainment Challenge - Local stretch Aims: 2023/24 to 2025/26

Summary of aggregated local authority stretch aims for 2025/26

Local authorities’ core stretch aims for 2025/26

An estimated^[1] aggregation of local authorities’ core stretch aims for 2025/26 are set out at table 1 below.

Overall attainment

These aims point to a collective ambition from local authorities to make steady and sustained progress in overall attainment over the coming three years. Further, given the impact of the pandemic on children and young people and on national data in recent years, there is value in looking across the longer term to contextualise local authorities’ aggregated aims. If these were to be achieved, it would mean that:

• ACEL literacy P1, P4 & P7 combined would improve by around 13% since 2016/17^[2];
• ACEL numeracy P1, P4 & P7 combined would improve by 9% since 2016/17;
• the proportion of school leavers attaining 1 or more award at SCQF level 5 or better based on Insight (All SCQF Awards) information would improve by around 5% since 2016/17;
• the proportion of school leavers attaining 1 or more award at SCQF level 6 or better based on Insight (All SCQF Awards) information would improve by around 10% since 2016/17; and,
• the proportion of 16-19 olds participating in education, employment or training based on the Annual Participation Measure produced by Skills Development Scotland would improve by around 5% since 2016/17.

If local authorities make good progress towards these aggregated aims, we will see sustained progress across these core measures of attainment over time. This represents positive ambition for both continued recovery from the pandemic and for progress over time.

For the senior phase in particular there may not be a linear upward trajectory of progress towards 2025/26 as approaches to certification for national qualifications continue to adjust following the pandemic.

The poverty-related attainment gap

In terms of the poverty-related attainment gap, these aims and attainment to date point to a collective ambition from local authorities to see significant progress since the Scottish Attainment Challenge was introduced. Looking at data from the beginning of the Challenge (2016/17), these stretch aims, if achieved, would see the poverty-related attainment gaps across the core measures reduce by:

• around 30% in primary school literacy and numeracy (ACEL P1, P4, P7 combined);
• around 28% for the proportion of school leavers attaining 1 or more award at SCQF level 5 based on Insight (All SCQF Awards) information;
• around 18%The proportion of school leavers attaining 1 or more award at SCQF level 6 based on Insight (All SCQF Awards) information; and
• around 49% for the proportion of 16-19 olds participating in education, employment or training based on the Annual Participation Measure.

Local authorities’ health and wellbeing and “plus” aims

Stretch aims for local priorities to improve children and young people’s health and wellbeing have been set by local authorities using local measures.

In 2022/23, there was a variety of health and wellbeing stretch aims, given local authorities’ various approaches to tracking and monitoring children and young people’s health and wellbeing. Attendance and participation were common measures selected by local authorities.

In 2023/24 – 2025/26 health and wellbeing stretch aims, there is less variety in the range of aims, with a universal focus on attendance across all local authorities, though local authorities are using a range of specific measures. The majority have set attendance stretch aims at the overall level as well as SIMD1, SIMD5 and the gap between SIMD1 and SIMD5.

Differentiation between primary and secondary attendance into separate health and wellbeing stretch aims has been a common approach, and a few have further disaggregated to include special school attendance or to include differentiation in attendance for children and young people with Additional Support Needs (ASN). In a small number of instances, local authorities have opted to use a different metric than SIMD, providing a rationale for why this is appropriate in their local context, such as in a number of rural or island authorities. Another approach has been to focus on a comparator other than SIMD1 versus SIMD5, where a local authority has low numbers of children and young people in either SIMD1 and/or SIMD5.

The national focus on attendance is clearly reflected in local authorities’ stretch aims on attendance, with many local authorities providing a detailed rationale and/or a trajectory of both historical and predicted attendance data. Approaches and initiatives in place or planned are also highlighted. This includes detail on whole school approaches, and revised frameworks and guidance at the local authority level relating to attendance.

In addition to the universal focus on attendance in 2023/24 – 2025/26 health and wellbeing stretch aims, several authorities have also selected other local measures which reflect their own priorities or contexts. This includes a focus on nurture. A few local authorities specified the use of wellbeing surveys. In one instance, a local authority measured health and wellbeing needs using a local authority-wide lifestyle survey to align support with initiatives taking place across the local authority to help support children and families. Another local authority referenced the use of data from the Health and Wellbeing Census 2022 to focus on mental wellbeing.

As in the “plus” stretch aims set for 2022/23, local authorities have set a broad range of “plus” stretch aims for 2023/24 – 2025/26, with a degree of variety both in presentation and content.

Whilst there is a degree of consistency between 2022/23 and 2023/24 – 2025/26 “plus” stretch aims set by individual local authorities, overall there is a slight narrowing into a more focused set of “plus” stretch aims, which is a result of data interrogation and learning from previous set of “plus” stretch aims.

As in 2022/23 “plus” stretch aims, the majority of local authorities have established aims both at the overall level and at SIMD1, SIMD5 and the gap between SIMD1 and SIMD5. Similar to the setting of health and wellbeing stretch aims, some local authorities have used alternative metrics to identify poverty-related disadvantage, such as pupils in receipt of Free School Meals. This has tended to be in response to specific local factors, such as the rural or island context of a local authority, or due to small numbers of SIMD1 and/or SIMD5 cohorts in a local authority.

There is a strong focus on care experienced children and young people across local authorities’ “plus” stretch aims for 2023/24 – 2025/26. An approach taken by several authorities has been to drill further down into core stretch aims for the care experienced children and young people cohort. Looked after children and young people is also an area of focus, and in a small number of instances stretch aims distinguish between a focus on children and young people looked after at home versus children and young people looked after away from home.

There is small number of instances of nurture-based “plus” stretch aims, usually related to specific local authority approaches or initiatives. Early years-related “plus” stretch aims have also been set by several local authorities. This has included a focus on early years developmental milestones, as well as on uptake of early learning and childcare.

A further focus for “plus” stretch aims has been a disaggregation of core stretch aims, such as focusing on ACEL Literacy and ACEL Numeracy disaggregated to Primary 1, Primary 4, Primary 7 rather than combined, and a further focus on ACEL Literacy and Numeracy at S3.

Reducing exclusion rates has also been an area of focus for some local authorities, either across primary and secondary or focusing on specific aspects or cohorts such as care experienced children and young people. In one local authority, there was a focus on reducing exclusion rates specifically for children and young people with ASN.

It is apparent in several local authorities that local context has been a key driver for setting specific stretch aims. For example, specific “plus” stretch aims have been set related to leaver destinations in some instances. As in 2022/23, one local authority has set a “plus” stretch aim for 2023/24 – 2025/26 in terms of reducing youth homelessness across the local authority. Reducing the Cost of the School Day stretch aims were also included by a few local authorities, as in 2022/23.

Summary

The collective ambition evident in the stretch aims is encouraging as the system – and children and young people – navigate the lasting impact of the pandemic followed by the current cost of living crisis, both of which have raised the barriers to learning created by poverty.

Current attainment, the poverty-related attainment gap and stretch aims for progress all vary significantly across local authorities, in many instances reflecting the range of different contexts in which local authorities operate. Some variation is appropriate, but in general children and young people should have equal opportunities to succeed, suggesting that we have more work to do to raise attainment for all and reduce unwanted variation. If good progress is made towards the 2025/26 local stretch aims, we will see variation in performance across the core measures reduce.

Individual local authorities’ aims are available on gov.scot.

To support local authorities to make progress towards their stretch aims, Scottish Government and Education Scotland, working with local authority partners, will use the intelligence the stretch aims provide to inform their ongoing support and challenge to drive progress.